1

Urban green nation:Building the evidence base

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Contents

Foreword 3

1 Introduction 4

2 Quantity of urban green space 11

3 Quality of urban green space 15

4 How often people visit urban green space 20

5 Proximity of populations and access to urban green space 25

6 Management and maintenance of urban green space 29

7 How people value urban green space 36

8 Conclusions and next steps 39

Appendices 44

Bibliography 55

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Englandisnotabigcountryandeightoutof10ofusliveinurbanareas.Inourdenselypopulatedsurroundings,itisthenetworksofparksandgreenspacesthatsustainthequalityofoureverydaylife.

Tenyearsago,theparlousstateofEngland’sparksandgreenspaceswascausingseriousconcern.ThegovernmentsetupanUrbanGreenSpacesTaskforceandthenin2003chargedCABEwithchampioningeffortstoreversethislong-termneglect.Sevenyearson,wehavebroughttogetheralltheavailableevidenceonthestateofEngland’surbangreenspace.Itisthefirsttimethishasbeendone.

Thegoodnewsisthatthehistoricdeclineinthequalityofurbangreenspacehasbeenarrested,andisbeingreversed.Itisclearthatthehigherthequalityofgreenspace,themorelikelyitistobeused.Sopeoplearenowusingtheirparksandgreenspacesmoreand,importantly,theyvaluethemmore.Thisinterest,inturn,canbeusedtomobilisecommunityinvolvementindecisionsaboutthedeliveryoflocalservices.

Butthedataalsoshowsthatnoteveryonehasbenefitedequallyfromtheseimprovements.Theprovisionofgreenspaceisworseindeprivedareasthaninaffluentareas.

UrbanGreenNationshowshowbetterinformation,morewidelyavailable,cancreatebetterpublicservices.Thisisnotfanciful:itisessentialforthesuccessoflocalgovernment.Andtheevidenceshowsthatifpeoplearesatisfiedwiththequalityoftheirparks,theytendtobemoresatisfiedwiththeircouncil,too.

Weallknowbudgetsaregoingtobetightintheyearsahead.ButIbelievewemustkeepfocusingpoliticalattentionandfinancialinvestmentonthissector.Fortunately,havingamuchmoresophisticatedunderstandingofthestateofurbangreenspacesmeansbeingabletotargetresourcesmoreeffectively.Now,ifwechoose,wecanmatchprovisiontoneed.

Paul Finch OBEChair, CABE

Foreword

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1 Introduction

1 ResearchbyHeriot-WattUniversity.2 �Green�spaces,�better�places:�final�report�of�the�urban�green�spaces�task�force,�

DTLR,�2002�and�Enhancing�urban�green�space,NationalAuditOffice,2006.3 The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABE

Space,2009.

This report presents the findings of the first of two pieces of research commissioned by CABE Space to gauge the state of England’s urban green space and its impact on people’s health and well-being.1 It starts to fill the serious information gap highlighted by the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce and its recommendation that this problem should be resolved.2

Parksandgreenspacesarethebackboneofsustainableandhigh-qualityurbanenvironments.Agrowingbodyofrobustresearchdemonstratesthathigh-qualitygreenspacesbringconsiderablebenefitstolocaleconomies,topeople’sphysicalandmentalhealth,andtotheenvironment.

Despitearenewedinterestingreenspace,thereisverylittleaccurateinformationabouthowmanyparksandgreenspacesthereareinurbanEngland,wheretheyare,whoownsthem,whatconditiontheyarein,orhowmanypeopleareemployedinlookingafterthem.Withoutthisbasicdata,itishardtoensurethatscarcepublicresourcesareallocatedandtargetedtobestpossibleeffect.

Todate,muchmoreinformationhasbeengatheredonthenation’sruralspaces.3Thisisthefirstreviewoftheurbanevidence.Thisstudydrawstogetherallthedatafromtheresearchthathasbeendone.

Thestudyinvestigatedover70majordatasources,andassembledaninventoryofmorethan16,000individualgreenspaces.WehaveanalysedthisquantitativedatatodiscoverwhatitsaysaboutEngland’spubliclyownedandmanagedurbangreenspace.

Wefoundthat(andsomeofthisisnotsurprising):

Almostnineoutof10peopleuseparksandgreenspaces,andtheyvaluethem

Ifpeoplearesatisfiedwithlocalparks,theytendtobesatisfiedwiththeircouncil

Theprovisionofparksindeprivedareasisworsethaninaffluentareas

Peoplefromminorityethnicgroupstendtohavelesslocalgreenspaceanditisofapoorerquality

Thehigherthequalityofthegreenspace,themorelikelyitistobeused.

Chapter8setsoutthefindingsfromouranalysisofthedata.

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Using existing data sources to establish baseline information

Despitethelackofcomprehensive,nationwideinformationaboutthequantity,qualityanduseofEngland’surbangreenspaces,therehavebeenmanystudiesthathaveresearchedvariousaspectsofgreenspaces.Sothereisalargebodyofoverlappingdatacollectedbydifferentorganisationsthatfordifferentreasons,priortothisstudy,hadneverbeendrawntogetherandanalysed.

Therefore,thisresearchprojectaimedtousethequantitativedataalreadyavailabletodiscoverwhatitcantellusaboutEngland’spubliclyownedandmanagedurbangreenspace,andtoestablishbaselinedatafromwhichfuturechangescanbetracked.ItrelatestoothersourcesofinformationabouttheenvironmentinEngland.4

Specificallytheresearchsetoutto:

makebestuseofexistingsourcesofrelevantdataaboutgreenspacesinEngland’surbanlocalauthorities5

deviseasuiteofindicatorsthatcouldbeusedtotrackchangestoEngland’surbangreenspacesandformabaselineformeasuringtrendsinthefutureinterpretandanalysealldataaroundcorethemesidentifysignificantgapsintheexistingdata.

ThisreportisthefirstoftwopiecesofresearchfromCABESpacethatshouldhelptostarttofilltheinformationgap.Thesecondpartofthisresearchexaminesinmoredepththeimpactofthequalityofgreenspacesonthewell-beingofpeoplelivinginsixdeprivedurbanareas.

4 SuchastheState�of�the�environmentreportspublishedbytheEnvironmentAgencyandNaturalEngland.

5 ThisresearchprojectusedtheNationalAuditOffice’slistof154urbanauthoritiesfromEnhancing�urban�green�space,2006.

6 ResearchbyOPENspaceResearchCentre,EdinburghCollegeofArt,incollaborationwithHeriot-WattUniversity.

7 The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.

8 Seewww.magic.gov.uk9 CommunityandLocalGovernment’s(CLG)greenspacesdatahubisnolonger

operationalbutthisdidprovideoneco-ordinatedresourcefordataabouturbangreenspace.

10 Public�parks�assessment:�a�survey�of�local�authority�owned�parks�focusing�on�parks�of�historic�interest�Urban�Parks�Forum,2001.Thiswasusedinpreferencetotheupdatecarriedoutin2004/05fortheNationalAuditOfficeasthedataismorecompleteandestablishesabetterbaseline.

11 Unfortunatelytheassessmentonlyrecordeddetailedinformation–suchasthenameoftheparkanditssize–forthe1,300urbanparksthatwereconsideredtohavehistoricvalue.

Thesecondpartfocusesonblackandminorityethniccommunitieswithintheseareasandtherelationshipbetweenperceptionsofqualityofurbangreenspaceanditsuse–anareaofresearchthathastodatereceivedlittleattention.6Italsoshowshowinvestinginparksandgreenspacescanhaveapowerfuleffectintacklingsocialdisadvantage.

Inaddition,theCABESpacebriefingThe�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spacessetsouttheinformationthatismissingaboutEngland’surbangreenspacesandcallsforanumberofspecificactionstoaddressthis.7The�green�information�gap�drawsupontheresearchwhichissetoutinmoredetailinthisreport.

Making best use of existing information

Thisstudyexploredover70majoranddiversedatasourcestofindoutwhatitcantellusaboutthestateofEngland’spubliclyownedurbangreenspaces.Thestudydidnotconsiderprivatelyownedgreenspacessuchascommunalorprivategardensorthegroundsofinstitutionssuchasuniversitiesandartgalleries.Instead,itconcentratedonlyonpubliclyowned,managedandmaintainedspacesthatare,intheory,openandaccessibletoall.

MAGICisthemaingovernmentdataportalthatbringstogetherindividualdatasetsaboutdifferenttypesofgreenspace.8Thiswasthefirstweb-basedinteractivemapofinformationonkeyruralenvironmentalschemesanddesignationsandwasdesignedtosupportpolicymaking.

ThereisnourbanequivalenttoMAGICandthelackofco-ordinationinregardtodatacollectionisonefactorlimitingpresentunderstandingoftheurbanenvironment.9Instead,anumberofnationalorganisations,suchasNaturalEngland,theNationalTrustandSportsEngland,holdinformationaboutparticulartypesofopenspace(table1).

ThePublic�parks�assessment�(PPA),carriedoutin2001,istheonlyattempttosurveyurbangreenspacesinEngland.10ThePPAprovidesanoverallestimateofthenumberofparksandrecreationalspaces–givingafigureofaround14,600parksforurbanEnglandasawhole,coveringatotalof69,500hectares.11

Thedetailedlistofdatasourcesreviewedforthepurposesofthestudyisinappendix1ofthisreport.

66

Data Data owner Available from Public�parks�assessment AuditCommission AuditCommission/GreenSpaceFieldsinTrustplayingfields FieldsinTrust FieldsinTrustGreenSTAT GreenSpace GreenSpaceAllotmentsites2004-05 Communitiesandlocal

government(CLG)CLG

Communitygardensandcityfarms2004-05

CLG CLG

Areasofoutstandingnaturalbeauty NaturalEngland MAGICCountryparks NaturalEngland MAGICRegisteredcommonland NaturalEngland MAGICNationalnaturereserves NaturalEngland MAGICLocalnaturereserves NaturalEngland MAGICSitesofspecialscientificinterest NaturalEngland MAGICSpecialareasofconservation NaturalEngland MAGICSpecialprotectionareas NaturalEngland MAGICBurialgrounds2006 Departmentfor

constitutionalaffairsCLG

Doorstepgreens NaturalEngland MAGICMillenniumgreens NaturalEngland MAGICGreenPennantparks2004-05and2005-06

CLG KeepBritainTidy

GreenFlagparks1998-2007 CLG KeepBritainTidyGreenHeritageSitewinners2004-05 CLG KeepBritainTidyGreenbelt CLG MAGICVillagegreens DEFRA MAGICHeritagecoast NaturalEngland MAGICNationalparks NaturalEngland MAGICRamsarsites NaturalEngland MAGICCommunityforests ForestryCommission MAGICWoodsforpeople ForestryCommission ForestryCommissionWoodlandTrustsites WoodlandTrust MAGICGrasspitches SportEngland Active�places�powergatewaySyntheticpitches SportEngland Active�places�powergatewayAthleticstracks SportEngland Active�places�powergatewayGolfcourses SportEngland Active�places�powergatewayRegisteredparksandgardens EnglishHeritage MAGICScheduledmonuments EnglishHeritage MAGICRSPBreserves RoyalSocietyforthe

ProtectionofBirds(RSPB)

MAGIC

NationalTrustlandholdings NationalTrust NationalTrust

Table 1: Examples of sources of data about green and open space in England

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possibleusingthedatathatalreadyexists,amulti-facetedviewofgreenspace:

1 quantity:bytypeofgreenspace,includingbothabsoluteandrelativeamounts,availableinurbanareas

2 quality:includingsubjectiveassessmentssuchasresidentsatisfactionandobjectivemeasuressuchasbiodiversity

3 use:howpeopleusegreenspace

4 proximity:thephysicallocationofgreenspaceinrelationtowherepeoplelive,andhowfarpeoplehavetotraveltoaccessdifferenttypesofgreenspace

5 management and maintenance:includinginformationaboutspending,staffingandhowwellaspaceislookedafter

6 value:capturinghowimportantgreenspaceistopeople.

Thesethemesformedthestructureofthesubsequentanalysis.Inparticular,welookedforconnectionsbetweendifferentaspectsofgreenspaceandthelocalenvironment,takingaccountofwidersocio-demographicfactors,location,housingdensityandotherissues.

Subsequentchaptersofthisreportsetouttheresultsofthisanalysis.

Establishing core indicators

Theprojectdevisedasetofcorekeyindicatorstoformabaselineformeasuringtrendsinthefuture.Theseindicatorshadtoachievevariousthings:theyneededtoprovidearoundedpictureofurbangreenspacecoveringalltheidentifiedthemes;theyneededtoberobust,basedonreliableandrespecteddatasourcesavailableconsistentlyacrossmostofurbanEngland;andtheyhadtobeeasilyreplicablesothattheycanbeupdatedwithoutdifficultyinthefuture.

Thesedatasetsnotonlycontaininformationabouttypesofgreenspace,butalsorecordinformationaboutpolicydesignationsandothercharacteristicsofgreenspaces,suchaswhethertheyaredesignatedasgreenbeltorsitesofspecialscientificinterestorareoperatedasbirdreservesorwoodlandsites.Inmanycases,informationinthesedatasetsoverlaps.Forexample,oftenasinglegreenspaceincludesarangeofdifferenttypesofspace,forinstancebothanaturereserveandasportspitch.Thisspacecould,therefore,appearintwoormorecategories.

Thelistabovedoesnotexplicitlyincludetheopenspacethatisownedandmanagedbyregisteredsociallandlordsasthesespacesareinvisibleinnationaldatacollection.

Furthermore,thereiscurrentlynosinglesourceofinformationaboutplayspacesavailableatanationallevel.12PlayEngland,theorganisationthatpromotesplaynationallyandishelpingtodeliverthegovernment’splaystrategy,isworkingonaprojecttoevaluatecurrentpracticeforrecordingplayspaceinformationandisassessingthefeasibilityofcreatinganationalmapofplay.13

Identifying themes to structure research analysis

Thereviewofdatasourceslookedindetailatthedifferentmeasuresandindicatorscontainedwithinexistingdatasourcesthatcapturesomeelementofgreenspace,itsqualitiesandpeople’sattitudestowardsit.Commonthemeswereidentifiedacrossdisparatedatasetsandmeasureswereidentifiedthatcouldbeusedtostructureandorganiseourextractionofdata.

Thisreviewwaswide-ranging,lookingacrossEurope,NorthAmericaandAustralasiaforrelevantexamples.Itconcentratedonextensivemeasurescoveringawholecountryorterritoryoragroupofcities,ratherthanindicatorscoveringonespaceoragroupofspaces.Thelonglistoftheindicatorsidentifiedasrelevantisinappendix2.

Fiftytwoindividualindicatorswereanalysedinmoredetailtohelpusunderstandwhatinformationcanbecollectedaboutgreenspace,andprioritiseissueswithinouranalysis.Theresultsofthisreviewaresummarisedinappendix3.Basedonthisreviewthefollowingthemeswereselectedtorepresent,asfarasis

12 ThisstudyusedOrdnanceSurveyPointsofInterestinformationthatlistsmoststructures,buildingsandlandusesotherthanresidentialhomesandincludesplayparks.

13 www.playengland.org.ukandwww.playengland.org.uk/localplayindicators

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Sourcesofexistingdatawerescrutinisedinrelationtotheirunderlyinggeography—thelowestspatialunitforwhichresultscouldbeanalysed—andtheircontent.Surveyquestionsandvariablelistswereconsideredindetailinordertoestablishwhatfreshdataanalysiscouldbecarriedoutbycombiningdatasourcesorbyisolatingspecificquestions.Appendix4setsoutthelonglistofpotentialindicatorsconsidered,withtheirdatasourceidentified.

Thefollowingkeyindicators,identifiedbytheme,wereselected:

QuantityQN1greenspace(hectares)perthousandpopulationQN2area(hectares)usedforsports/leisureperthousandpopulation

QualityQL1numberofGreenFlag-awardedparksperlocalauthorityQL2percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwithlocalareasasaplacetolive

UseU1percentageofpeopleusinggreenspacebyfrequencyU2percentageofpeoplewhoarephysicallyactive

ProximityP1numberofhomeswithin300metresofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectaresP3measureofproximitytogreenspaceforthoseinthemostdeprivedareas

Management and maintenanceMM1residentsatisfactionwithlocalauthorityparksandopenspaceserviceMM2annualspendonparksperheadofpopulationMM3cleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspaceMM4statusofgreen/openspacestrategies

Value to local peopleV1percentageofpeoplewhothinkthatlocalparksandopenspacesareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetoliveV2percentageofpeoplewhothinkaccesstonatureneartowheretheyliveisimportant.

Asagroup,theseindicatorscoverarangeofdimensionsofurbangreenspace.However,thedataforsomeindicatorsismorerobustandcomprehensivethanitisforothers.Forinstance,weknowmuchmoreaboutthecleanlinessofparksthantheirvaluetopeople.Datasetsprovideinformationontheconditionofpublicspacesbutnotontheirdesignorfunctionalquality.Weknowhowcleanandwellmaintainedspacesarebutnothowvaluable,vibrantorwellusedtheyare.14

Itwastheintentiontoconsidertheskillsofthegreenspacesector.However,existingdatacollectionrecordsverylittleinformationaboutthegreenspaceworkforce.CABE’sSkills�to�grow�strategysetsoutsevenprioritiestoimprovegreenspaceskills.15Thisprogrammeofworkincludesresearch,forthefirsttime,onthesizeandscopeofthegreenspacesectornationallyandaimstoprovidebenchmarkstomeasureprogressintacklingskillsdeficitsinthegreenspaceworkforce.16

Creating an inventory of urban green space

ItwasbeyondthescopeofthisprojecttobuildacomprehensiveinformationresourceonurbangreenspaceinEngland.TheCABESpacebriefingThe�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spacessetsoutthechallengesinvolvedindoingso.Therearewaysforward,however.

Forinstance,inScotland,GreenspaceScotland,withsupportfromtheScottishExecutive,hasalreadymadegoodprogressincreatinganinventoryofurbangreenspaceusingGISmaps,aerialphotographyanddatafromlocalauthorities.Theinventoryincludesdataaboutquality,quantityanduseofgreenspaceandwillprovideavaluablebenchmarkfromwhichpolicycanbeformulatedanditsimpactmonitored.17

Ourresearchstudy,intheprocessofdrawingtogetherallnationaldatarelatingtourbangreenspace,hascreatedthefirstattemptataninventoryofurbangreenspaceinEngland.

14 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�the�quality�of�life:�a�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.

15 Skills�to�grow:�seven�priorities�to�improve�urban�green�space�skills,CABESpace,2008.

16 Green�space�skills�2009:�National�employer�survey�findings,�CABESpace,2009.17 State�of�Scotland’s�greenspace,GreenspaceScotland,2009.

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Theresultinginventoryincludesrecordsformorethan16,000individualgreenspacesin11categories(table2).Eachrecordcontainsanestimateofsize(hectares)andthespace’sgeographiclocation.18Althoughincomplete,thisisthefirsttimethatthisdatahasbeencollatedintoonedatabase.AlthoughtheinventorywillonlygosofarinfillingthegapinnationalinformationaboutEngland’sgreenspace,itisnonethelessanimportantstepintherightdirectionandprovidesthebasisformostmeasuresofquantityandproximityinthereport.

18 Syntheticpitches,skislopesandrunningtrackswereexcludedfromtheinventory,andonlygrasssportsfacilitieswereincluded.

Table 2: Contents of the inventory (all urban authorities, England)

Green space type Count Area (ha) DataAllotments 997 1,356.8 Allotmentsites2004-05Cemeteries 1,643 3,679.1 Burialgrounds2006Communityfarms 197 472.8 Communitygardensandcityfarms2004-05Countryparks 72 5,756.9 CountryparksDoorstepgreens 82 140.3 DoorstepgreensGolfcourses 361 5,720.6 GolfcoursesGrasspitches 10,243 8,170.4 SportEngland/FieldsinTrustMillenniumgreens 91 164.5 MillenniumgreensNaturereserves 663 14,308.0 Nationalnaturereserves;localnaturereservesParks 1,770 52,243.2 Registeredparksandgardens2008;

Public�parks�assessment;GreenFlagparks2005-06;GreenFlagparks2006-07

NationalTrust 128 14,537 NationalTrustAll types 16,247 106,549.6

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Intermsoftherobustnessandreliabilityoftheinventory,thefollowingpracticalitiesshouldbenoted.

First,asfaraspossible,theinventoryaimedtoavoidduplicationofspacesacrossdifferentcategories.Someofthedatasetsincludedanunderlyinglistofspacesthatcouldbeextractedfromthedatafileandoverlapcouldbeidentified.However,becausedifferentsourceswereheldindifferentformatsandwerecreatedbydifferentorganisationsfordifferentpurposes,variationsinnamingconventions,particularlylocalauthoritynamesandindividualsitenames,madeeliminatingduplicatestime-consuming.Thereforeinevitablytherewassomedouble-ortreble-countingofspacesthatincludemorethanonefacility,suchasaparkwithsportspitchesandnaturereservestatus.

Second,itwouldhavebeendesirableforasmuchdataaspossibletobesuppliedwithshapefilesorboundaryfiles,sothatparksandgreenspacescouldbemappedinGIS.Someshape/boundaryfileswereavailabletoourresearchers,andthesewereusedwhereverpossible.However,manyoftheentriesintheinventoryhadnoboundarydataattachedtothem,andsowererepresentedbycirclesequivalenttotheknown,orestimated,sizeofthespace.

Third,theinventorydevelopedforthepurposeofthisstudywascomparedwiththePPA,theonlyotherattempttosurveyurbangreenspacesinEngland.19Thiswasinordertoobtainaquickandcrudecomparisonofextentofcoverage.TheCABEinventoryrecordsatotalofapproximately12,000parksandrecreationalspaces.ThePPAdatasetrecordsatotalof14,600suchspaces.ThustheCABEinventoryseemstoincludeabout82percentoftheparksandrecreationalspacesincludedinthePPA.Ifthefiguresforparkareaarecompared,theCABEinventorycoversaround87percentoftheareaaccountedforbythe2001PPAdataset.

Finally,somesourcesofdataprovedtobeparticularlyusefulinthisresearch;butdespitetheirusefulness,eachhassignificantshortcomings.Theseshortcomingsaresummarisedinappendix5.

Glossary

Thestudyanalysedstatisticallyanumberofkeyindicators,andothersetsofdata,toseeifanyusefulunderlyingtrendsorcorrelationscouldbefound.Theprocessesreferredtoinclude:

Regression analysisThislooksatthestrengthofrelationshipsbetweenthedifferentdatacollected.Inparticular,welookedforconnectionsthatmightbeapparentbetweendifferentaspectsofgreenspaceandthelocalenvironment,whiletakingaccountofawiderrangeofissuessuchassocio-demographicfactors,locationalfactors,andissuestodowithurbanform—suchashousingdensity.

Logistic regressionThisisaregressionanalysistechniqueusedwhenthedataisexpressedinbinaryform,suchas‘good’or‘bad’;‘satisfied’or‘unsatisfied’.

Ordinary least squaresThisisatechniqueusedtoanalysevariablesthattakeacontinuousform,suchasthenumberoftimespeopleusetheparkinayear,whichcouldbeanynumberbetween0and,say,500.

19 ThereissomelackofclarityaboutwhichtypesofspaceswereincludedinthePPA.Itis,however,unlikelythatitincludedcemeteries,allotmentsorgolfcourses,sothesewereexcludedfromthecomparison.

11

20 Mitchell,RandPopham,F,‘Effectofexposuretonaturalenvironmentonhealthinequalities:anobservationalpopulationstudy’,The�Lancet:372(2008),1655-60.

21 ForexampledeVries,S,Verheij,RA,Groenewegen,PPandSpreeuwenberg,P,‘Naturalenvironments–healthyenvironments?Anexploratoryanalysisoftherelationshipbetweengreenspaceandhealth’,Environment�and�PlanningA,35:1717-31,2003.

22 Grey�to�green:�how�we�shift�funding�and�skills�to�green�our�cities,CABE,2009.23 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�the�quality�of�

life:�a�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.

2 Quantity of urban green space

It may seem extraordinary that no one knows how much publicly accessible urban green space there is in England, but quantifying it does pose some methodological questions. One issue is how to define exactly what should be counted — for instance, some very well-used urban green spaces are not ‘official’ parks or gardens at all, some do not even have names and many are not easily identifiable as a single space. Many provide multiple functions, making their classification tricky. Even those parks and gardens that are run by local authorities can be known locally by different names, adding to the potential confusion. The problem is compounded by the fact that those organisations that do collect data on the quantity of urban green space tend to use different definitions, and usually exclude spaces around social housing that, for many people, could be their most important local green space.

Measuring the quantity of green space: about the data

Quantityisanimportantmeasureofgreenspacebecause,regardlessofitsquality,thetotalamountofgreenspaceavailabledoesstillmatter.Lowaverageamountsofgreenspacemaymeanthatinsomeneighbourhoodsthereiseffectivelynoneavailable,whileevenwherethereissomegreenspaceitmaybedegradedthroughoveruseorconflictinguses.

Researchdemonstratesthatpeoplewholiveinthegreenestneighbourhoodsexperiencelowerall-causemortalityandlowermortalityfromcirculatorydiseasesthansimilarpeoplelivinginlessgreenneighbourhoods.20This,andotherevidence,demonstratesthatlivinginaliterallygreenerandleafierneighbourhoodisgoodforyourhealthregardlessofyoureconomiccircumstances.21

Thequantityofgreenspaceavailablealsodeliverscriticalenvironmentalservices,offeringaworkinglandscape:livingroofs,largetreesandsoftlandscapeareastoabsorbheavyrainfall;anetworkofareasforeffectivefloodprotectionandthecleaningandcoolingofair.22Theabilitytodelivertheseserviceseffectivelyisinfluencedbythelevelofquality,whichisdiscussedinmoredetailinthefollowingchapter.

Furthermore,thequantityandqualityofgreenspaceisanimportantfactorinattractingpeopletoareasandretainingresidents.IntheBritishHouseholdPanelsurvey,respondentswereaskedtogivereasonswhytheirareawasagoodorbadplacetolive.44percentofthereasonsgivenrelatedtopublicspace.Furthermore,theSurveyofEnglishHousingaskedrespondentstolistthethreemainthingsthatwouldimprovetheirlocalarea.Issuesrelatingtoaspectsofpublicspacewerecitedasmanytimesasfactorsrelatingtoemployment,healthandhousing.23

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24 TherearenotableproblemswithcalculatingQN1:first,whethertousethe‘broad’measureofgreenspacederivedfromGLUDwhichincludesfarmland,golfcoursesandsoon,ora‘narrower’measurederivedfromtheCABEgreenspaceinventoryorCIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationstatistics2007/08combinedwiththeMunicipal�year�book2008data.Second,officialpopulationestimatesarenotavailableforsmallareas,whichhasanimpactonaccuracy.

252008Municipal�year�bookdataused. 26www.sportengland.org

Generalised Land Use Database ThemostcompletesourceofdataabouttheareaofgreenspaceinurbanEnglandistheGeneralisedLandUseDatabase(GLUD),heldbyCommunitiesandlocalgovernment(CLG).GLUDwasderivedusinganautomatedmethodofclassifyingOrdnanceSurveymapdataintoninelandcategoriesandone‘unclassified’category.ItprovidesfiguresforlandtypeforallofEnglandasatJanuary2005.FromthepointofviewofquantifyingurbangreenspaceinEnglandthedatafromGLUDhasseveralstrengths.

First,itiscomplete,inthatitcoversallofEngland’surbanareas.Second,thecategoriesaremutuallyexclusivesothatnoparceloflandcanbeincludedmorethanonce.Third,itseparatesoutbothpathsandroads,meaningthatthemeasureofgreenspaceisrelativelyaccurate.

However,GLUDalsohasamajordrawback:its‘greenspace’categorycoversawiderangeofgreenspacetypesincludingfarmland,woodland,allotments,parks,playingfieldsandcemeteries—althoughexcludingdomesticgardens.Muchofthis,particularlyfarmlandandwoodland,isprivateland.Consequently,anydataaboutthequantityofpublicurbangreenspacederivedfromGLUDisover-generous.

Thisstudythereforeadoptstwodefinitionsofquantityofurbangreenspace:a‘broad’definitionwherebyGLUDdataisused;anda‘narrow’definitionwhereothersourcesofinformationaboutquantityofspaceareusedwiththeaimoffocusingonparksandpublicgreenspacesonly.

Allofthesedatasetshavedisadvantages:someofthemareincompleteinthattheydonotcoverallofEngland’surbanareas;someofthemaremissingvitalinformation,suchasthenameofeachspaceoritsarea.Furthermore,informationongreenspaceownedandmanagedbysociallandlordsisabsentinnationalinformationcollection.

The quantity indicators

QN1Greenspace(hectares)perthousandpopulation

QN2 Area(hectares)usedforsports/leisureperthousandpopulation

Thestudycalculatedurbangreenspacequantityintwoways:greenspaceinhectaresperthousandpopulation(QN1)24andareainhectaresforsports/leisureperthousandpopulation(QN2).

QN1wascalculatedasa‘broad’measureofgreenspaceusingGLUDdata.Andasa‘narrow’measureusingdatafromthisproject’sgreenspaceinventoryorothersources,suchastheCharteredInstituteofPublicFinanceandAccountancy(CIPFA)Leisure,�culture�and�recreationstatistics(2007/08)andtheMunicipal�year�book(MYB),whichholdsincompletedataongreenspace.25

QN2wascalculatedusingthestudy’sgreenspaceinventory,whichincludesameasureoftheareaofrecreationgroundstakingtheformofgrasspitches,derivedfromSportEnglandFacilitiesdata(2009)thatiscomprehensive.Thisexcludesall-weatherpitchesandsomeothertypesoffacilities.26

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What the quantity indicators tell us

Regional variationsThegeneralpictureacrosstheregionsoutlinedbelowisthattheSouthEast,SouthWestandEastMidlandsscorerelativelywellwhileLondonandtheWestMidlandsscoreratherpoorly(table3).

ThemeanscoresforurbanEnglandare1.79(ifthequantitydataistakenfromtheinventory),or1.98(ifquantitydataisderivedfromCIPFAandMYB).

TheAssociationofPublicServiceExcellence(APSE)managesabenchmarkingclubenablingauthoritiestobenchmarkagainstotherauthoritiesintheUK.Dataonanumberofperformanceindicatorsiscollected.Performanceindicator30measureshectaresofmaintainedpublicopenspaceper1,000population.Datawasavailablefor64localauthorities.AmongthelocalauthoritiesintheAPSEgroupthemaximumscorewas7.8hectaresper1,000population;theaveragescorewas4.17;andthelowestscorewas1.33.TheAPSEgroupincludessomeruralareaswhicharelikelytohavegreaterquantitiesofgreenspace,andsowouldhavehighervalues.27

Quantity varies according to urban typologyWhenconsideringurbantypologies,suburbanareasappeargenerallytohavealargerquantityofparksandgreenspacethanurbanareas.However,urban/cityareasarebetteroffforrecreationgroundsandsportspitches.Thisis,perhaps,whatmightbeexpected.Thesepatternsarealsoassociatedwithdensity

—generally,thereisagoodquantityofprovisioninthelowestdensityareas,withlessgreenspaceinintermediateandhigherdensityareas.Forinstance,wardswithfewerthan20dwellingsperhectarehavethreetimesasmuchgreenspaceaswardsinallhigherdensitybands.AlthoughinnerLondonscoresgenerallypoorlyintermsofquantityofgreenspace,itappearstobebetterprovidedwithchildren’splaygrounds.

Deprived areas have far less green space than affluent onesOnmostindicatorstested(includingboth‘narrow’and‘broad’definitionsofquantity)deprivedareashavemarkedlylessgreenspacethanaverage,whiletheleastdeprivedareashavethemost.Figure1illustratesquantityandtypeofgreenspacesbythelevelofanarea’sdeprivation.

Table 3: Green space (hectares) per thousand population – ‘narrow’ measure

Region Green space (hectares) per thousand populationCABEinventorydata

CIPFAandMYBdata

NorthEast 1.77 1.55YorkshireandtheHumber 1.82 1.83NorthWest 1.61 1.86EastMidlands 1.92 3.25WestMidlands 1.36 1.67SouthWest 2.45 2.70EastofEngland 1.49 2.37SouthEast 2.86 3.25London 1.24 1.24

PublicparksGeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)RecreationgroundsSportsgroundsPlaygrounds

Figure 1: Quantity and type of green space and area deprivation

Inde

x

Levelofdeprivation

260

240

220

200

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0Worst10% 11-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% Leastdepr

Sources:CIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationstatistics2007/08andMunicipal�Year�Book(recreationgrounds);CABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory(publicparks);GeneralisedLandUseDatabase(generalgreenspace);SportEnglandFacilitiesdata2009(sportsgrounds)OrdnanceSurveyPointsofInterestinformation(playgrounds).Allmeasuresbasedonarea(hectares)ofgreenspaceper1,000population.DeprivationcalculatedusingtheIndexofMultipleDeprivation2004.

27www.apse.org.uk

14

Themostaffluent20percentofwardshavefivetimestheamountofparksorgeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)perpersonthanthemostdeprived10percentofwards.Peoplewhoarenotworkingbecauseofunemploymentorsickness—individualmarkersofdeprivation—tendtoliveinareaswithalowerquantityofgreenspace.Similarly,peoplestudyingortrainingalsohavelowerquantityscoresforgeneralgreenspaceandparks.

Formosttypesofgreenspace,socialrentersandprivaterentershavelessquantitythanowner-occupiers,exceptforchildren’splaygroundsandrecreationgrounds.Itisimportanttonotethatitwasnotpossibletoincludesocialhousinggreenspacesinanalysis.Thiswillhaveanimpactonresults.

Datawasalsoanalysedbyethnicity(figure2).Peoplefromminorityethnicgroupstendtohavelesslocalgreenspace.Theinequalityofprovisionalsocorrelatesstronglywiththeproportionofblackandminorityethnicpeoplelivinginanarea:placeswithhighproportionsofblackandminorityethnicresidentshavefarlessgreenspace.Areasthathavealmostnoblackandminorityethnicresidents(fewerthan2percentoftheirpopulation)havesixtimesasmanyparksthanwardswheremorethan40percentofthepopulationareblackorminorityethnicresidents.Usinga‘broad’definitionofquantityofgreenspace,notjustparks,thisdifferenceisaround11times.28

Thismaybebecauseinnerurbanareas,whichtendtohavealowerquantityofgreenspace,alsotendtohaveahigherproportionofblackandminorityethniccommunities.Wealsorecognisethattheresultsareintimatelyrelatedtothecircularityofdisadvantage–blackandminorityethniccommunitiesaremorelikelytobelivinginareasofdeprivationwhichhavemarkedlylessgreenspacethanaverage.

Thepictureismorepositiveinregardtorecreationfacilitiesandplaygrounds.Indeed,areaswithanintermediatelevelofblackandminorityethnicresidents(between6and20percentofpopulation)havearelativelyhighlevelofprovisionofrecreationgrounds,whileplaygroundprovisionisalsorelativelyhighforwardswithbetween11and40percentblackandminorityethnicresidents.

Figure 2: Quantity and type of space by black and minority ethnic population

Inde

x

Percentageblackandminorityethnicpopulation

340

320

300

280

260

240

220

200

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0Under2% 2-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21-40% Over40%

Sources:CIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationstatistics2007/08andMunicipal�Year�Book(recreationgrounds);CABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory(publicparks);GeneralisedLandUseDatabase(generalgreenspace);SportEnglandFacilitiesdata2009(sportsgrounds)OrdnanceSurveyPointsofInterestinformation(playgrounds).Allmeasuresbasedonarea(hectares)ofgreenspaceper1,000population.

28Gardensnotincluded.

PublicparksGeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)RecreationgroundsSportsgroundsPlaygrounds

15

29 Open�space�strategies:�best�practice�guidance,CABESpaceandMayorofLondon,2009.

30 Greenspace�quality:�a�guide�to�assessment,�planning�and�strategic�development,GreenspaceScotland,2008.

31 www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag

3 Quality of urban green space

The quality of parks and green spaces is one of the most important elements of their value, both to individuals and to society as a whole. For instance, if a local park is derelict and overgrown, it is unlikely to be used much by many of the people who might benefit from it, such as children, parents and the elderly. Because of this, a small, well-designed and well-maintained park may be far more valuable to a community than a large but neglected space. This can be true of environmental performance, too: a large area of mown grass might have little ecological value, whereas a small well-planted space could be rich in biodiversity. In other words, simply knowing the size of a green space tells us little about its value. Other aspects need to be understood and enumerated — and there are many different sources of data that attempt to do this.

Measuringthequalityofgreenspace,likemeasuringitsquantity,isnotstraightforward.Thereisnonationalstandardforqualityornationalqualitycriteriaforopenspaces.Assessmentswillrelyonacombinationofobjectiveandsubjectiveobservationsandprovideasnapshotintimeonly.CABESpace’sbestpracticeguidance,Open�space�strategies,discussestheseissuesinmoredepth.29Inaddition,GreenspaceScotland’sguidetogreenspacequalitysetsoutspecificgreenspacequalityindicators.30

Measuring the quality of green space: about the data

Thereare,however,avarietyofmeasuresthatcaptureaspectsofthequalityofurbangreenspace,coveringanumberofdimensionsofquality.Theseincludeimportant,butsubjective,aspectssuchasuserperceptionsandratings,foundinBestValuePerformanceIndicators(BVPI),thePlace�surveyandGreenSTAT,andmoreobjectivemeasuressuchasbiodiversity,whicharereflectedinGreenFlagawards,anddatafromtheRoyalSocietyfortheProtectionofBirdsandtheEnvironmentAgency.

However,whiletherangeofmeasuresisveryuseful,manyoftheunderlyingdatasourcesarenotcomprehensiveinthattheyonlyincludeaproportionofurbangreenspaces.

The Green Flag awards TheGreenFlagawardschemeisavoluntaryannualawardsschemeforalltypesofpublicgreenspaceandprovidesanationalqualitybenchmarkforgreenspaces.31Localauthoritiesorotherownersormanagersofgreenspacescanenterspacesforanaward,andhavetopayafeeforeachspacetheyenter.Uniquely,theawardsarebasedonaholisticviewofwhatmakesagoodgreenspace,ratherthanasingleindicator.

Thespaceisjudgedintwoways.First,managementinformation—inparticularthesite’smanagementplan—isassessedandjudgedagainstanumberofcriteria.Second,accreditedGreenFlagjudgesvisitthesiteandareabletoaskquestionsofthesite’smanagers,maintenanceworkers,andoftenmembersofcommunitygroupstoo.Thesiteisthenscoredagainstthefollowingcriteria:Isitawelcomingplace?Isithealthy,safeandsecure?Isitwellmaintainedandclean?Isitmanagedsustainably?Doesitrespectandenhance

16

32 www.greenstat.org.uk33 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�quality�of�life:�

a�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.

34 Link expired

conservationandheritage?Isthelocalcommunityinvolved?Isitwellpromoted?Isitwellmanaged?Iftheparkscoresaboveacertainlevel,itwillbegivenanawardwhichisvalidforoneyear.Thescoresareweighted,sothatifasitescoresveryhighlyonsomeaspects,butverypoorlyonothers,itwillnotwinitsaward.Similarly,themanagementsystemsandinformation,asjudgedbythemanagementplan,havetobeofacertainquality.Inotherwords,asitethatisverywellmaintained,buthaspoorstrategicmanagement,willusuallynotgetanaward—evenifthesiteitselflooksattractive.

AlthoughthefactthataspacehasachievedaGreenFlagawardisagoodindicationofitsquality,GreenFlagisavoluntaryscheme.Thefactthataspacedoesnothaveanawardshouldnotbetakentoimplythatitisofpoorquality—itmaysimplynothavebeenentered.

GreenSTATGreenSTATisasystemthatgiveslocalresidentstheopportunitytocommentonthequalityoftheiropenspacesandhowwelltheyfeeltheyarebeingmanagedandmaintained.32Itallowssitemanagerstocomparetheresultswithothersupanddownthecountry.

GreenSTATdatacontainsuserfeedbackaboutuse,facilities,designandappearance,maintenanceandoverallsatisfaction.GreenSpacemanagesGreenSTAT.ItsdatasharingagreementwiththelocalauthoritiesthatsubscribetoitmeansthatresultsformeasuresbasedonGreenSTATcanonlybereportedhereinrelationtoregions,orgroupingsoflocalauthorities,ratherthanindividualauthorities.

BVPI and the Place surveyBVPIsurveysofresidentswereundertakeneverytwoyearsuntil2006.Thesurveyscollectedinformationaboutsatisfactionwithneighbourhoodqualityandlocalauthorityservices.Thisincludedanumberofquestionsaboutlocalgreenspacesuchasthefrequencyofparkuse,viewsaboutnatureandsatisfactionwiththeauthority’sparksservice.From2008,theBVPIsurveywasreplacedbythePlace�survey�whichhasasimilarpurpose.

Place�survey�resultswerepublishedinearly2009.However,thedatareleasedforpublicationwasnotcomprehensiveatthetimeofthisstudy.Asaresult,themajorityofanalysisheredrawsonBVPIdata.

UK Sustainable Development IndicatorsTheUKSustainableDevelopmentIndicatorsareasuiteof68indicatorsthatareupdatedannually.Appendix2setsouttheindicatorsrelevanttothisstudy.Twoindicatorswereanalysedhere.Indicator60,thepercentageofpopulationslivinginareaswiththeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions,andIndicator65,whichassesseslocalenvironmentalqualityusingKeepBritainTidydata.

What the data does not tell us

Someelementsofqualityinpublicparksandopenspacesarenevermeasureddirectlyoraremeasuredonlyrarely,forinstancedesignqualityorusability.33Manyofthese,suchasdesignquality,areverydifficulttomeasureandexpressnumerically—althoughtheGreenFlagawarddoesattempttocapturesomeofthesemoreelusivevaluesinanumericalform.However,thefactthatsomethingisnoteasytocapturestatisticallydoesnotmeanthatitisnotimportant,andthisshouldbeborneinmindwhenconsideringthedatabelow.

The quality indicators

QL1NumberofGreenFlag-awardedparksperurbanlocalauthorityQL2Percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwithlocalareaasaplacetolive

Thestudyexaminedtwocoreindicatorsindicatingqualityofgreenspace:numberofGreenFlagawardsperurbanauthority(QL1)andpercentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive(QL2).

QL2isbasedondatafromthe2006BVPIsurvey.34Headlineresultsforsatisfactionwithlocalarea,usingPlace�survey�data,arereportedhereonly.InadditiontotheQL1andQL2coreindicators,otherindicatorsofenvironmentalandgreenspacequality,derivedfromBVPIandtheUKSustainableDevelopmentIndicators,wereanalysed.Theseincludedwhetherresidentsthinkthatopenspaceshavegotbetterorworse.

Indicatorsaboutthequalityof,andsatisfactionwith,thebroadergreenspaceserviceprovidedbylocalauthoritiesarediscussedinchapter6.

17

1-2greenflags 3-4greenflags 5ormoregreenflags

Map 1: Number of local authorities with Green Flag Awards, England and London (2009/10)

What the quality indicators tell us

Increasing numbers of Green Flag awardsGreenFlagawardsareoneindicatorofqualityinurbanparks.Thenumberofurbanparksreceivingawardsrosefrom487in2008/09,to594in2009/10.

In2008/09,120of154(78percent)ofurbanauthoritiesinEnglandhadoneormoreGreenFlagaward.In2009/10,135of154(81percent)ofurbanauthoritiesinEnglandhadoneormoreGreenFlagaward.

ThemapbelowshowstheincidenceofGreenFlagparksin2009/10.Amongotherthings,itdoesshowthatafewlocalauthoritieswinthemajorityoftheawards.

London detail

18

35 Datafrom2007release.

Thetablebelowsetsoutthetop14urbanlocalauthorityrecipientsofGreenFlagawardsin2009/10.Betweenthem,theseauthoritiesaccountedfor190outof594awards,32percentofthetotal.

What the Sustainable Development Indicators tell usIndicator60oftheUK’sSustainableDevelopmentIndicatorsmeasuresthepercentageofpopulationslivinginareaswiththeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions.35Analysisofthisshowsthatahigherproportionofpeoplelivinginthemostdeprivedareasliveinplaceswiththeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions.Theindicatortracksairpollution,industrialreleases,greenspace,habitatsfavourabletobiodiversityandsoon.Inthemostaffluentareas,lessthan0.5percentofthepopulationexperiencemorethanthreeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions;inthemostdeprivedareasitis22percent.

Inaddition,SustainableDevelopmentIndicator65assesseslocalenvironmentalqualityandisbasedonKeepBritainTidydatawhichevaluatesasampleofsitesinrelationtoarangeofissuesthatincludelitter,dogfouling,detritus,fly-tipping,graffitiandsoon.Analysisofthisindicatorfound53percentoflocalenvironmentsinEnglandaredeemedunsatisfactoryorpoor.

Satisfaction with area and quality of green spaceQL2measurestheproportionofrespondentsveryorfairlysatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive.Place�survey�datashowsthat80percentofpeopleinEnglandareveryorfairlysatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive.Thisisagoodgeneralindicatorbutpeoplecouldbereflectingotherattributesoftheirneighbourhoodintheirresponse.

PublishedPlace�surveydatawasnotcomprehensiveatthetimeofthisstudy.QL2figuresbelowuseBVPIdata.

InadditiontoQL2,twootherqualityindicatorsfromBVPIwereanalysed:theproportionofresidentsthatthinkthatthequalityofparksandopenspacesintheirareagotbetterorstayedthesameinthelastthreeyears;andtheproportionthatthinkthatparksandopenspacesareanaspectoftheareathatmostneedsimproving.Bothofthesedepend,tosomeextent,ontheexpectationsandaspirationsofresidents.

Patterns in quality of provisionOverall,therearequitestrongnorth-southandurban-suburbanpatternsinthesequalityindicators.QualityisbetterintheSouthWest,followedbytheEastofEnglandandSouthEast,andpoorerinthethreenorthernregions,particularlytheNorthWest.However,thesedifferencesarenotverydramaticinregardtothetwoindicatorsQL1andQL2.TheWestMidlandsscoresquitewellongeneralsatisfaction,whiletheEastofEnglandislessgoodonthisindicator.

Qualityisbetterinsuburbanareasgenerallyandsouthernurbanareasinparticular;betterincentralLondonbutpoorininnerLondonandtosomeextentouterLondontoo.Townfringeareasscorewellinthesouthbutlesswellinthenorth—moreofthesemaybeperipheralcouncilestatesorperi-urbanformerindustrialareas.ThereissomeevidenceofaU-shapedrelationshipwithdensity.

Quality in deprived areasImportantlyandincommonwiththemeasuresofquantityinchapter2,qualityissystematicallyworseindeprivedareasandbetterinlessdeprivedareas.ThedifferenceismarkedonQL2withresident

Table 4: Top Green Flag award-winning local authorities 2009/10

Authority Number of awardsManchester 30Westminster 18Liverpool 16CityofLondon 14Hillingdon 13Halton 12Stockport 12Haringey 11Nottingham 11Bury 11Tameside 11Wirral 11Sheffield 10NewcastleuponTyne 10

19

satisfactionwithlocalareafallingfromover80percentinthemostaffluentareastoaround50percentinthemostdeprivedareas(figure3).Qualityisworseinareaswithhighlevelsofsocialrentingandthosethatarelong-termsick,disabledpeopleandunemployedpeoplereportworsequality.

Young people’s satisfactionYoungpeopleagedbetween16and24reportlowerqualityacrossallindicatorsanalysedforthestudy.15percentof16-24yearoldsthinkparksandopenspacesaretheaspectoftheirareathatmostneedimprovement,comparedwith8percentof55-74yearolds.Thisgreaternegativityamongyoungerpeoplemayberelatedtothefactthattheyuseparksandopenspacemore,andtherebyhavemoreexperienceonwhichtoformaview.Itcouldbethatparksandopenspacesarenotbeingdesignedandmanagedtomeettheirneeds.36

Black and minority ethnic people fare worseAnalysisofthedatashowsthatqualityisalsoworseinareaswithahigherpopulationofblackandminorityethnicresidents.ThedifferencesaremoremarkedonthegeneralareasatisfactionindicatorQL2.Only50percentofresidentsinwardswithmorethan40percentoftheirpopulationfromblackandminorityethnicgroupsaresatisfied,comparedwith70percentinwardswithlessthan2percent.

Blackandmixedgroupsarelesslikelytothinkparkshaveimproved,andAsianresidentsaremorelikelytosayparksmostneedimproving.However,thesedifferencesinscorearenotverylarge.Interestinglythereisamorepositivepictureinareaswithbetween11and20percentblackandminorityethnicresidents-70percentreportthattheyareveryorfairlysatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive.Thesecondpartoftheresearchexploresthisinmoredetail.37

Modelling satisfaction with areaIfwebringinevidencefromtheuseofmoresophisticatedstatisticaltechniques(regressionanalysisandlogisticregressionanalysis)topredicttheincidenceofgeneralneighbourhoodsatisfaction,thestrongestexplanatoryvariabletested38turnsouttobesatisfactionwiththelocalauthority’sgreen/openspaceservice.39Thismattersforlocalauthorityperformance.Thereisastronglinkbetweenpeople’ssatisfactionwiththeirlocalparksandtheirsatisfactionwiththeirneighbourhood.

Takentogetherwithpositiveeffectsfromquantityofbroadergreenspaceandaccessibilityofparks,thisprovidestangibleevidenceoftheconnectionbetweenqualityofgreenspaceandqualityoflife.Alsoverysignificantandpositiveistheeffectofwhetherpeoplethinkthatparksandpublicopenspaceoraccesstonatureisimportant,discussedinchapter7.Peoplewhovalueparksornaturearemorelikelytobesatisfiedwiththeirneighbourhoodasaplacetolive.

36 Youngpeopleareoftenoverlookedincommunityengagement.Spaceshaper9-14aimstogettheminvolvedinimprovingtheirlocalparks,streets,playgroundsandotherspaceswww.cabe.org.uk/public-space/spaceshaper-9-14

37 Seewww.cabe.org.uk/publications38 Thedatasetcreatedforthisanalysisdidnotincludealltheotherneighbourhood

satisfactionorqualityoflifeindicatorscollectedinBVPI,wherethesedidnotrelateinsomewaytogreen/openspace.Thereforewecannotruleoutthepossibilitythatsomeofthe‘explanation’fromthegreenspacesatisfactionvariablemaybe(jointly)attributabletootherorwiderneighbourhoodsatisfaction/problemissueswhicharecorrelated–forexample,crime/securityissues.

39 Chapter6looksatresidentsatisfactionwithparksandopenspaceservices.

Figure 3: Percentage of households satisfied with local area by level of deprivation

Worst10% 11-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% LeastDepr England

Levelofdeprivation

Per

cent

age

gene

raln

eigh

bour

hood

sat

isfa

ctio

n

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Source:BVPI2006survey.Informationforurbanauthoritiesonly.

20

4 How often people visit urban green space

How many people use parks, and how often they use them, demonstrates people’s appreciation of an area’s green assets and reflects how valuable parks and green spaces are to communities.40 Until recently, however, data on green space use was scarce. At a local authority level, parks often compete for funding with other leisure services such as swimming pools and libraries, both of which count their users. Without knowing how many people use parks, compared with these other services, it is difficult to make a strong case for funding them and plan across different timescales strategically.41

Forthoseworkinginpublichealth,aswellasthoseinthegreenspacesector,informationaboutparkuseis,therefore,veryvaluable.Visitingparksandopenspacesprovidesbothphysicalandmentalbenefitsandformanypeopleislessoff-puttingandexpensivethangoingtoagym.Researchhasshowntheimportanceofgreenspaceasasettingforphysicalactivity–andmanyofthesportspeopleplaytakeplaceatoutdoorsportsfacilities,forinstancefootball,rugby,andgolf.42Includingthisdataheremakesitpossibletolinkgreenspacetopolicyagendasaroundhealthandobesity.

TheCABESpacepublication,Making�the�invisible�visible:�the�real�value�of�park�assets,exploresthepracticalitiesofmeasuringparkuseinmoredetail,includingthelimitationsofthisasanindicator.43

Measuring the use of parks and green spaces: about the data

Anumberofdatasourcesincludeinformationabouttheuseofparksandgreenspaces.Forinstance,thePlace�survey2009and,beforethat,theBVPIsurveys,reporthowoftenpeopleuseparksandopenspacesgenerally,whereasGreenSTAT,forinstance,looksathowmuchanindividualspaceisused.

DEFRA’sregularsurvey,Public�attitudes�and�behaviours�towards�the�environment�tracker�study,asksrespondentsabouttheirattitudestowardskeyenvironmentalissuessuchasenergyuse,climatechangeandthenaturalenvironment.Thisincludesquestionsontheuseofgreenspace.44

GreenSTATistheonlydatasourcethatoffersinformationaboutwhypeopleuseparksandopenspaces.Itdoesnothavecomprehensivedatacoverageasitisaself-completionquestionnaire.

Inaddition,alessdirectmeasureofparkuse,thathasbeenincludedhere,isaphysicalactivitymeasurebasedontheSportEnglandActive�peoplesurvey2005/06.Thisisalargescalesurveyofpeople’sleisureandphysicalactivityinEngland.

TogetherthesemeasuresprovideausefulaccountofhowwellparksandopenspacesareusedinEngland’stownsandcities.

40 Making�the�invisible�visible:�the�real�value�of�park�assetslooksinmoredetailatmeasuringparkusetoindicatethevalueofgreenspace.

41 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/making-the-invisible-visible42 Physical�Activity�and�the�Natural�Environment,�Natural�England�Evidence�Sheet�3,�

2003�and�Building�Health:�Creating�and�enhancing�places�for�healthy�active�lives,NationalHeartForum,inpartnershipwithLivingStreetsandCABE,2007.

43 Link expired44 Link expired

21

Table 5: Use of urban parks and open spaces in England

Howfrequentlyhaveyouusedthefollowingpublicservices?

Service Percentage of people in

last six months

Percentage of people in

the last year

Parksandopenspaces 79 87Localtips/householdwasterecyclingcentres

79 87

Localtransportinformation 54 68Localbusservices 58 67Sport/leisurefacilities 46 57Libraries 49 60Museums/galleries 24 38Theatres/concerthalls 29 45

Source:Place�survey(2009)Informationforurbanauthoritiesonly.

The use indicators

U1Percentageofpeopleusinggreenspacebyfrequency

U2Percentageofpeoplewhoarephysicallyactive

Thestudylookedattwocoreindicatorsofuse.Thefirstindicator,U1,givesfrequencyofvisitstoparks,takenfromBVPI2006.Itisbasedonbandedresponsestothequestionaboutfrequencyofusingparksandopenspaces,insevenbandsrangingfrom‘almosteveryday’to‘withinthelastyear’,‘longerago’and‘never’.

Publishedfiguresforthe2009Place�surveyincludedataaboutuseofparksandopenspacesinthelastsixmonthsandthelastyear.AtpresenttheavailabledataisfarlessdetailedthantheBVPIfigures.Therefore,headlinefiguresonlyarereportedhere(table5).

Thesecondindicator,U2,giveslevelsofphysicalactivity,takenfromtheSportEnglandActive�people�survey,2005/06.Itisbasedonthenumberofdaysinthelastfourweeksrespondentshavewalked,cycledordonesportingactivitiesofatleastmoderateintensityforatleast30minutes.

Use: what the data tells us

ParksandopenspacesarethemostfrequentlyusedserviceofallthepublicservicestrackedaspartofthePlace�survey,withrespondentsreportinghigheruseofparksthantheotherculturalandleisureservicessuchassportandleisurefacilitiesandlibraries.45InEngland81percentofrespondentshaveusedtheirlocalparkoropenspaceinthelastsixmonths.Thiscompareswith32percentthathaveusedconcerthalls,and26percentthathavevisitedgalleries.

Inurbanareas,87percentofthepopulationhaveusedtheirlocalurbanparkoropenspaceinthelastyear,and79percenthaveuseditinthelastsixmonths(table5).Thisshowslittlechangesince2006(table6).

However,itisworthnotingthatGreenspaceScotland’sresearch46showsthattherehasbeenamarkedincreaseinparkuseinScotlandduringthelastfewyears,with63percentofpeoplenowusinggreenspacesatleastonceaweekcomparedwith49percentin2005.UnfortunatelyitisnotpresentlypossibletotrackwhethertherehasbeenasimilarupliftinweeklyparkuseinEnglandusingup-to-datePlace�surveyinformation,asthislevelofdetailhasnotbeenreleased.

TheDEFRAtrackerstudyPublic�attitudes�and�behaviours�towards�the�environmentasksrespondentshowoftentheyvisitpublicgardens,parks,commonsorothergreenspaces.47IncontrasttotheresultsfromScotland,thisreportsanoveralldecreaseinweeklyuseinEngland:in200754percentofrespondentssaidtheyusedgreenspacesatleastonceaweek,48comparedwith48percentin2009.49

2006 BVPI surveyAnalysisofBVPIdataalsofoundthat87percentofrespondentshadbeentotheirlocalparkinthelastyear.ThefrequencyofparkusewasmarkedlyaboveaverageinLondon,theSouthEastandSouthWest,andbelowaverageinthethreenorthernregions,especiallyYorkshireandtheHumber(table6).

45 Servicestracked:parksandopenspaces;localtransportinformation;localbusservices;sport/leisurefacilities,libraries,museums/galleriesandtheatres/concerthalls.

46 ��State�of�Scotland’s�greenspace,GreenspaceScotland,2009.47 Responserateofaround1,700individuals.48 Link expired49 Link expired

22

Table 6: Percentage of people using parks and green space by frequency of use

Generallyspeaking,peopleinLondonandthesouthofEnglanduseparksmorethanpeopleinthenorthofthecountry.Thispatternissimilartothepatternfoundbythequalityindicators—generallybetterqualityinthesouth,poorerinthenorth—andthetwoarelikelytoberelated.

Commonsensetellsusthataspacethatiswelldesignedandwellmaintained—inotherwords,thatisofahighquality—islikelytoattractmorepeople.ResearchfromtheHeritageLotteryFund(HLF)showsthatparksthathavebeenrestoredwithmoneyfromthefundhaveincreasedtheirvisitornumbersby68percentonaverage.Thissuggeststhatthelinkbetweenthequalityofthespaceanditsuseisverystrongindeed.TheHLFresearchalsoreportsthatthereare1.8billionvisitstoparksinEnglandeveryyear.50

TheindicatorU2,percentageofpeoplewhoarephysicallyactive,showsasimilarpattern,althoughtheregionaldifferencesarelessmarked.TheSouthEast,SouthWestandLondonhavethehighestlevelsofphysicalactivity,whiletheWestMidlandshasthelowest.

Use of parks by urban typologyInareasofhigherbuildingdensity,parksandopenspacesareusedmore.Thismaywellbebecausepeoplelivingindenserurbanareastendtolackgardens.CentralandinnerLondonhaveamarkedlyhigheruseofparksthancitycentresinotherregions.

ThiscouldbebecauseofthepresenceoftheeightRoyalParks,andthe4,000hectaresofparksandopenspacesrunbytheCorporationofLondon—allofthesespacesareofagenerallyhighquality.GiventhestronglinkbetweenqualityandusesuggestedbytheHLFresearch,theavailabilityoftheseparksmightbeonefactoraccountingfortheparticularlyhighparkuseinLondoncomparedwithothercities.

50 HLF�funding�for�public�parks�1st�April�1994�–�31st�March�2009,HeritageLotteryFundPolicyandstrategicdevelopmentdepartmentdatabriefing,October2009.

Source:BVPIData.

Government region Daily Weekly MonthlyTwice yearly Yearly

Less than yearly Never

NorthEast 12.0 24.1 20.7 17.8 9.7 7.3 8.4YorkshireandtheHumber 10.5 23.0 21.4 18.6 10.1 8.2 8.3NorthWest 12.0 26.5 20.6 17.0 8.7 7.1 8.1EastMidlands 13.3 25.6 20.7 16.3 9.3 6.9 7.9WestMidlands 11.5 24.7 20.9 16.9 9.3 8.2 8.5SouthWest 16.2 30.3 20.9 14.7 7.4 5.2 5.3EastofEngland 14.7 26.7 21.2 16.5 8.5 6.5 5.8SouthEast 16.2 30.0 20.9 15.2 7.1 5.0 5.6London 16.7 31.9 21.4 13.5 6.3 4.6 5.6Average 13.7 27.0 21.0 16.3 8.5 6.6 7.1

23

Use of parks in deprived areasWehavealreadyseenthatdeprivedareashavesmallerquantitiesofparksandopenspace,andwhattheydohave,isofapoorerqualitythanaverage.Itisperhapsnotsurprising,then,thatthedataaboutuseshowsthatindeprivedareasfewerpeopleuseparksandopenspace,andthosethatdousethemvisitlessthantheaverage.

Themostdeprived10percentofwardshaveafrequencyof51visitsperyear,comparedwith62visitsperyearinthemostaffluentwards.However,thesecondmostdeprivedbandhasafrequencyof60,underliningthattherelationshipisnotsostrongaswithsomeotherindicators.Theurbanform–thelevelofdensityofhousing–doesimpactonuseofparks.Thoseareasthataredenser,withfewgardensandahighernumberofflats,tendtohavehigherlevelsofuse.Asexpected,useofparksandformalgreenspaceishigherintheareaswhereresidentshaveaccesstolessprivategreenspace.Deprivedareastendtobeofahigherdensitythusthenatureofurbanformcouldbeoffsettingdeprivationtosomedegree.Parkuseisnotparticularlyrelatedtohousingtenure.

However,people’slevelsofphysicalactivityseemtoberelatedquitestronglytoaffluence,orthelackofit.Themostdeprivedwardshaveonly40percentofadultsdoingmoderatephysicalactivityregularly,whilethisrisessteadilyacrossthebandstonearly60percentinthemostaffluentwards.

Takenasawhole,thestrongcorrelationsbetweenthepoorqualityandquantityofspacesindeprivedareas,andthelowlevelsofphysicalactivityofresidents,suggestthatpolicymakerswhoarekeentoencouragebetterhealthindeprivedareasshouldconsiderinvestinginimprovingthequalityofparksandpublicspaceasonewayofhelpingtoachievethis.

Use of parks by different people TheUrbanGreenSpacesTaskforceobservedthatsomesectorsofsocietyusegreenspacelessthanothers,particularlyolderpeople(agedover65),peoplewithdisabilities,women,blackandminorityethnicpeopleandchildrenandyoungpeopleaged12-19.51Thisstudyconfirmedthesefindings.

Overall,acrossthestudy,limitinglonger-termillnessordisabilitywasfoundtobeassociatedwithlowersatisfactionwithneighbourhood,perceivedlowerqualityofparksservice,lowerparksuseandmuchlowerphysicalactivity.

Thepatternsofuseofparksbyblackandminorityethniccommunitieswereinterestingandechotheresearchfindingsonquantityandqualityofgreenspace(chapters2and3).Areaswithintermediateproportionsofblackandminorityethnicpeople(between11and40percentofwardpopulation)madethegreatestuseofparksandopenspaces(figure4).

BlackAfricanandAfrican-Caribbeanpeopleusedparkstheleast,peoplefrommixed/otherethnicgroupshadahigherfrequencythanaverage.Asianpeoplewereslightlymorelikelythanotherblackandminorityethnicpeopletouseparksatleastonceayear.ThesecondpartofresearchbyCABESpacelooksatethnicityanduseinmoredetail.

51 Green�spaces,�better�places:�final�report�of�the�urban�green�spaces�task�force,DTLR,2002.

Figure 4: Frequency of use of parks and green space by proportion of black and minority ethnic population

0-2% 3-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21-40% 41%+ England

Percentageblackandminorityethnicpopulation

Visi

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Source:GISanalysisofCABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory,linkedtoBVPIsurveyanddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).

24

Intermsofphysicalactivity,moderatephysicalactivityislowestintheareasthathaveapopulationofmorethan40percentblackandminorityethnicpeopleandhighestinthoseareasthathaveapopulationofbetween10and20percent.

What can statistical modelling tell us about use and activity?Usingordinaryleastsquaresregressionforusefrequency,wefoundsomeusefuladditionaltrendsemergingfromthedata.

First,thereisamoderatebutsignificantlinkbetweentheamountthatpeopleuseparksandthedistancetheylivefromthenearestpark:livingclosertendstoincreaseuse.

Thereisalsoapositivelinkbetweenpeople’ssatisfactionwiththelocalparksservice,howmuchtheyvalueparksornature,andtheamounttheyuseparks.Inotherwords,thedataconfirmswhatwemightexpect:peoplewhovalueparks,andthinktheirlocalparksaregood,willtendtousethemmore.

Onefindingthatislessself-evident,however,isthatspendingmoreonparksdoesnot,initself,leadtohigheruse.Thiscouldbebecausespendingmaybeaproxyformoreproblematic,andhencecostly,areas.Wemaynotbespendingenoughtoachievebetteruse.

Wheretheproportionofgardenareaisgreater,theuseofparksisless,suggestinganexpectedelementofsubstitution.

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5 Proximity of populations and access to urban green space

The proximity and accessibility of green space is especially important to people living in urban areas. The physical access to a place affects how people will benefit from it. Easy access to good-quality green places will provide enhanced well-being: a greater sense of belonging and feelings of security, stretching people’s boundaries, promoting mobility and improving health.52 However, there is no nationally established methodology for measuring proximity.

Withoutanestablishedmethodologyformeasuringaccessibilityofgreenspacetherearevarioustechnicalchallengestoberesolved.Theseincludewhethertousedistances‘asthecrowflies’ortheactualdistancesthatpeoplehavetotraveltoreachagreenspace;whethertomeasuretothenearestparkgate(ifoneexists)orthecentreofthespace;andwhattodoaboutneighbourhoodsthatareclosetolocalauthorityboundariessothatthenearestspaceisprovidedbyanotherauthority.Theseissuesmakedatagatheringcomplexbutnonethelessofgreatimportance.

Proximity: about the data

ResearchbytheGreaterLondonAuthority(GLA)intohowaccesstonaturecanbeimproved

considersproximityinrelationtoactualwalkingdistancesandentrancestospaces.53Italsotakesintoaccountopeninghours,entrycharges,andthenatureofthesiteitself.ThisapproachiscomprehensiveandcouldformthebasisforthemeasurementofproximityoutsideLondon.

However,thismethodologyrequiresarobustinventoryofgreenspacesanddetailedinformationaboutboundaries,accesspointsandopeninghours.TheinventoryofurbangreenspacesacrossEnglandestablishedforthisprojectdidnotalwayshaveevenbasicinformationaboutthesizeorboundariesofsomespaces.ItwasthereforenotpossibletoemulatetheGLA’sapproach.

Instead,thisprojectconstructedthreemeasuresofproximityusingexistingdata.Essentially,theyareallconcernedwiththedistancestoparksorgreenspacesandthesizeofthegreenspaceswithinshortdistances.Therewereconsiderabletechnicalproblemsandchoicestobemadeinconstructingthesemeasures.

Theproximityindicatorsarebasedondemographicdataanddataaboutthedistancefromgreenspace.Theyhadtobecalculatedusingseveralrathercrudeapproximations.First,itwasassumedthatallofthepopulationlivesinthecentreofasmallarea(unitpostcodes,orsmalltomediumsuperoutputareas).54Second,thedistancesusedwereasthecrowflies,ratherthantheactualdistancesomeonewouldhavetotravelfollowingtheroad.52 Inclusion�by�design:�equality,�diversity�and�the�built�environment,CABE,2008

exploresthisinmoredetailwww.cabe.org.uk/publications/inclusion-by-design53 �Improving�Londoners’�access�to�nature:�London�plan�implementation�report,

MayorofLondon,200854 Formoreinformationonsuperoutputareas

26

Theindicatorsarepotentiallyparticularlyusefulatthesmallarealevel,buttheirusefulnessisdependentonthequalityofinformationaboutgreenspaceswithinagivenarea.Thisresearchprojectcalculatedproximitytoformalspacesthataredocumentedindatacollection.Itwasnotpossibletoconsiderthemultiple,informalgreenspacesthatarearguablymoreimportantinthevaluethattheycontributetocommunities.

The proximity indicators

P1 Thenumberofhomeswithin300metresofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares

P2 ‘Proximatehectares’(willnotbetrackedasacoreindicator)

P3Theproximitytogreenspaceofpeoplelivinginthemostdeprivedareas

ThestudyanalysedthreeindicatorsofproximityusingtheCABEgreenspaceinventorydata.IndicatorP1aimstomeasurethenumberofhomeswithin300metresofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.ThisisNaturalEngland’saccessiblenaturalgreenspacestandard(ANGSt)55,whichsetsaseriesofbenchmarksforensuringaccesstospacesneartowherepeoplelive.

Becauseofdatalimitations,anotherindicator,P2,wasalsocalculated,thatof‘proximatehectares’.Thismeasuredtheareaofgreenspaceindistancebandsfromagivenresidentiallocation,anddividedtheareabythesquareofdistanceinkilometres.Sogreenspaceatonekilometredistancecountsasoneunitperhectare;attwokilometresitcountsas0.25units,andsoon.Theresearchersthenaddedupalltheseweightedunitsacrossallthedistancebandstogivethenumberof‘proximate’hectares.

ThethirdindicatorP3,measuresproximatehectarescalculatedforthoselivinginthemostdeprived20percentofneighbourhoods.

Giventhedatacurrentlyavailable,itwasonlypossibletogainapproximateresultsforP1.Usingtheinventoryconstructedforthisproject,weknowthenumberofmetrestothenearestpark/space;andwehaveanestimateofthesizeofthisnearestspace.However,weknowourinventoryisprobably

missingsomeparksandgreenspaces,andforthosespacesthatwedoknowaboutwelackcomprehensiveinformationabouttheirboundaries.Consequently,althoughfromthepointofviewofwhetherhouseholdshaveeasyaccesstogreenspacethismeasureisveryuseful,fromthepointofviewofwhatrobustinformationcanbederivedfromexistingdata,thedistanceof300metresistoosmall.Therefore,theamountofgreenspacewithin500metreswasalsoexamined,butthisraisedsimilarissues.

Inviewofthis,athirdproximitymeasurewasdevised,thatof‘proximate’hectares,P2.Thiscountsallspaces,regardlessofwhetherornottheyareinthesamelocalauthorityareaasthehouseholds.Inotherwords,ifyouliveneartheboundaryofonelocalauthorityarea,butyournearestgreenspaceisjustovertheboundaryinanotherlocalauthority’sarea-thenitwillstillbecountedasyournearestgreenspace.Thisisdespitethefactthatthepopulationdatawillcomefromonesource,andthegreenspacedatafromanother.Becausethegreenspacedatacomesfromourinventory,itignoresanyparksthatareinadjacentnon-urbanlocalauthorities.Thiscreatesapotentialdistortionnearurbanboundaries.

Theproximatehectaremeasurewascalculatedseparatelyforthreepopulationgroups:thoselivinginthemostdeprived20percentofneighbourhoods(indicatorP3);blackandminorityethnicpeople;andthoseagedover65(thesegroupsoverlap).

Proximity: what the data tells us

IndicatorP1looksathouseholdsthathavegreenspacewithin300metres(ANGStstandard).Bearinginmindthelimitationsofthedata,asdiscussedabove,itindicatesthatbetween7percentand18percentofhouseholdsmeettheANGStstandard.ThehighestproportionsareintheWestMidlands(18percent)andtheNorthWest(17percent),followedbyLondon(16percent);thelowestproportionsareintheSouthEast(8percent)andYorkshireandtheHumber(7percent).

Thenumberofhomeswithin300metresofnaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectaresisillustratedinmap2overleaf.Table7setsoutthepercentageofhomeswithin300metresand500metresofanaturalgreenspace.

55 Link expired

27

29.4to62.4 16.7to29.4 10.2to16.7 5.6to10.2 0.3to5.6

Londondetail

Region The percentage of homes within 300 metres of a natural green space of at least two hectares

The percentage of homes within 500 metres of a natural green space of at least two hectares

NorthEast 8.4 17.5YorkshireandtheHumber 7.4 15.9NorthWest 16.7 32.9EastMidlands 9.6 20.5WestMidlands 18.0 35.0SouthWest 13.6 24.9EastofEngland 11.8 23.6SouthEast 7.9 15.0London 15.9 30.4England 12.9 25.4

Table 7: Percentage of homes within 300 metres and 500 metres of a natural green space

Source:GISanalysisbasedontheinventoryofgreenspace.

Map 2: Homes within 300 metres of a natural green space of at least two hectares (percentage of addresses)

28

Proximity and urban formThebroaderproximityindicator,P2,showsthehighestscoresinLondonandtheSouthEast,withthelowestscoresintheEastMidlands,YorkshireandtheHumberandtheNorthEast.Overall,25percentofhomeshaveagreenspaceofsomesortwithin500metres.ItmayseemsurprisingthathouseholdsinLondonhavethehighestproximitytogreenspace,butthatispartlybecauseproximitywasmeasuredby‘asthecrowflies’distance,andLondonisthedensestconurbation,whereeverything,includingpeopleandgreenspaces,isclosertogether.

Proximity and deprivationProximityisonedimensionwhichislessnegativefordeprivedareas.Deprivedareas,includingthosewithmoderatedeprivation,haveproximityscoresthatareslightlyaboveaverage,althoughtheleastdeprivedareashavethehighestscores(figure5).Onereasonforthisslightlymorepositivepicturewouldbethedensityeffectdescribedabove.Moredeprivedwardsaretypicallyalsosmallerandthusclosertootherwardsthatmayhavebettergreenspaceprovision.Anotherreasonmaybethatareaswithhighproportionsofsocialrentinghavebetterphysicalaccessibilitytourbanopenspace.Thisprobablyreflectsthelegacyofpost-wartownplanning.Itwasnotpossibletoexplorethisrelationshipingreaterdetailowingtotheabsenceofnationaldataongreenspacesonsocialhousingestates.

Proximity, socio-economic background and ethnicityAnalysisbysocio-economicfactorsfoundthatthosethatare‘long-termsick‘anddisabledpeoplehaveslightlypoorerproximity,whereasprivaterentersandthosestudyingortraininghaverelativelyhighproximity.Aswithuse,accordingtodataanalysedhereproximityisbetterforplacesthathaveintermediatelevelsofblackandminorityethnicresidents(between11and40percentofareapopulation).

Owingtothecomplexitiesofaccuratelycalculatingproximitytogreenspace,thisareaofresearchwillespeciallybenefitfromfurtheranalysisandexploration.Theresultsofanalysisreportedherefocusonlyonaccesstothegreenspacesthataredocumentedinnationaldatacollectionandthereforewerepresentinthestudy’sinventory.

Source:GISanalysisofCABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory,,linkedtoBVPIsurveyanddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).

Figure 5: Proximate green space area by level of deprivation

EnglandWorst10% 11-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% Leastdepr

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6 Management and maintenance of urban green space

Successful parks and green spaces are underpinned by good-quality management and maintenance. This will include a skilled and motivated workforce, sufficient capital and revenue resourcing and well-evidenced strategic planning. As vital local spaces for recreation, parks and green spaces need to be welcoming, well maintained and clean, and to meet the needs of local people. However, there is very little data about the way in which parks are managed and maintained, and almost nothing about who is doing this work, what skills they have — or even how many are employed in the parks and open space sector as a whole.

Thethemeofmanagementandmaintenanceanalysedabroadrangeofinformationsources.Theseincludedevaluationofsourcesoffinancialdata,cleanlinessandmaintenancedata,analysisofthestatusofgreen/openspacestrategiesandconsiderationofexistingdatasourcesonskillswithinthegreenspacesector.Inaddition,thelevelsofresidentsatisfactionwiththeirparksandopenspaceswasanalysedasameasureofoverallsuccessinthemanagementandmaintenanceofthisservice.

Management and maintenance: about the data

TheGreenFlagawardis,arguably,theonlysystematicassessmentofthemanagementofindividualparksandgreenspaces,includingreferencetopolicyandstrategywhereappropriate.Thissourceofdatahasbeenconsideredintheanalysisofqualityinchapter3andisnotdiscussedfurtherinthissection.

PerformancemanagementframeworkssuchasTowards�an�excellent�service�for�parks�and�open�spaces56andtheCulture�and�sport�improvement�toolkit57assessperformanceoftheoverallgreenspaceservice.GreenFlagawardscanbeusedaspartoftheseassessmentstoprovideevidenceofusingqualitystandards.Suchframeworkscanbeapplieddifferentlytosuitlocalcircumstancesandsodataisnotnecessarilyconsistent.Moreover,thisdataisnotcapturedonanationalscaleandhasnotbeenconsideredinthischapter.

Cleanlinessisoneofthefewaspectsofparkmaintenancethatiswelldocumentedinnationaldatacollection.58KeepBritainTidy’sLocalenvironmentalqualitysurvey(LEQSE),59forinstance,providesanumberofdetailedmeasuresofcleanliness,basedonobjectiveinspectionsofspaces.Inaddition,parkusers’viewsaboutlitterarecapturedintheBVPIsurveyandGreenSTATdatasets.60Togetherthesedatasourcesofferareasonablyrichaccountofhowwellcaredforaparticularparkorpublicspacefeels.

Incontrast,theavailabilityofdataaboutthemanagementofparksandopenspace—includinghowmuchisspent—ismorepatchy.Thereareseveralreasonsforthis.Thefirstmajorproblemisthatparksandopenspacesareaccountedforinverydifferentwaysindifferentlocalauthoritiesandoftendatarelevanttogreenspaces,includingdataabouttheamountspentonthem,isbundledupwithotherinformation.Thegreen�information�gap61reiterates

56 Link expired57 APSEalsoco-ordinatesalocalgovernmentbenchmarking

servicewww.apse.org.uk/performance-network.html58 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�the�quality�of�

life:�A�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.

59 Link expired60 TheEnglishHouseConditionSurveyalsoincludesinformationonlitterprovided

byanassessor.However,thesemeasuresareconcernedonlywiththeenvironmentimmediatelyadjacenttothebuilding,forexample,thestreet.Thisdatacannotbeassociatedwithaparticularparkorgreenspaceandhasthereforebeenexcludedfromthestudy.

61 The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.

30

62 CIPFApublishestwosourcesofinformationaboutspendingonopenspace.TheFinanceandgeneraldatahasaheadlinefiguresimilartothatreportedinCLGoutturndata,andisvirtuallycompleteforurbanauthorities.TheCIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationdataontheotherhandincludesmoredetailedinformationaboutspending,includingnetspending,incomeandspendingpercapita,butismuchlesscomplete.Statisticsbasedontheyearsanalysed(2007/08).

63 www.cipfastats.net64 Link expired65 Link expired66 www.apse.org.uk/performance-network.html67 Link expired

theNationalAuditOffice’srecommendationfortheadoptionofacommonnationalframeworkforcollectingdataaboutresourcinggreeninfrastructure.

LocalauthoritiesprovidesomeinformationabouttheirspendingonparksandopenspacestoCLGandtoCIPFA.TheyarenotrequiredtoprovideinformationtoCIPFAhoweverandasaresultthisdataonlycoversaround50percentofurbanlocalauthorities(andaslittleas33percentforsomedata).62DatagatheredbyCLGincludesfiguresforoverallexpenditureonopenspace,splitintocapitalspendingandrevenuespending.ThesearecomparabletothegeneralfinancestatisticspublishedbyCIPFA.63

Overall,thelackofconsistencyinthewaythatlocalauthoritiesrecordspendingonparksmakesbenchmarkingverydifficult.Spendingdatacannotgenerallybedisaggregatedtoindividualparksorneighbourhoods,andthereareconsiderableproblemswithmissinglocalauthorityspendingreturnsandinconsistentuseofaccountingcategories.Furthermore,responsibilityforgreenspaceservicesisoftenfragmentedacrossdifferentlocalauthoritydepartmentsandthusacrossdifferentbudgets.

Spend per person versus spend per hectareTherearetwoobviouswaystomeasuretheamountthatlocalauthoritiesspendonparksandgreenspaces:theamounttheyspendperheadofpopulation,andtheamounttheyspendperhectareofspace.Apartfromthedifficultyoffindingreliabledataforeitherofthesemeasures,bothmeasureshavetheirdeficiencies.

Theamountspentperpersonisdifficultforseveralreasons.Themostobviousisthatthenumberofpeoplewhohappentoliveinalocalauthorityareaisnotnecessarilyareflectionofthenumberwhousethatauthority’spublicspace.AnextremeexampleofthisproblemistheCityofLondon.Veryfewpeople(around8,000residents64)actuallyliveintheCity,butduringtheweek300,000peopleworkthereanduseitsspaces.65Moregenerally,however,inthecaseofmostlocalauthoritiesthespendperpersoncanbeausefulindicatorwhencomparingtheamountspentontheparksservicewith,say,otherservicesthatresidentsmayvalueless.

Theamountspentperhectareisalsoproblematic.Apartfromthedifficultyofquantifyingareasofpublicgreenspace(discussedinchapter2),thereisalsotheissuethatsometypesofgreenspacerequirefarmore

moneytomaintaintoareasonablelevelthanothers.Forinstance,aflowergardenisfarmoreexpensivetomaintainthanapatchofgrass—althoughitmightprovidemorebenefitstoitsusers.Simplyknowinganaveragespendperhectarewillnottellyouwhetherornotthespacesthatthelocalauthorityhappenstoownhaveenoughspentonthemtobewellmaintained.

Consequently,individually,figuresforspendperperson,orspendperhectare,shouldbetreatedwithcaution.However,theycanbeusefulcomponentsofasuiteofindicatorsandassucharevaluable.

ThemainsourcesoffinancialdataanalysedforthepurposeofthisreportwerecollectedbyCLGandCIPFA.DataheldbyAPSE,collectedaspartofitsperformancenetworks,66andCABEdatawasusedforcomparativepurposes.

Other sources of money for parksItisworthnotingthatmanylocalauthority-ownedparkshavebenefitedfromsignificantexternalinvestment,mostnotablyfromtheHeritageLotteryFund(HLF).Between1994andMarch2009,theHLFawardedmorethan£525millionto707parks.HLFmoneyhastobe‘matchfunded’bymoneyfromothersources.Someofthiswillhavecomefromthelocalauthoritiesthemselves,butsomeofitwillhavecomefromcentralgovernmentgrants,localbusinesses,orlocalfundraisingcampaigns.

Why London is a special case ThereareseveralreasonswhydataforLondon—inparticulardataaboutspendingandsatisfaction—shouldbetreatedwithcaution.First,therevenuesupportgrantgivenbythegovernmenttoLondonlocalauthoritiesismoregenerousthanitistotherestofthecountry.67

Second,LondonbenefitsfromtheRoyalParks,andtheparksandspacesrunbytheCityofLondonCorporation,bothofwhicharefundedandmanagedentirelyseparatelyfromthelocalauthorities.Bothorganisationsmanagesignificantareasofspace.68

31

AjointCABE,LantraandGreenSpacesurveyoflocalauthorityskillsin2008foundthattheCityofLondonspentmorethan£2,300ayearperheadofpopulation—clearlynotsomethingthatotherlocalauthoritiescouldemulate.69

Absence of data about the green space workforce and its skillsInadditiontothelackofdataaboutspendingongreenspace,thesecondmajorproblemintermsofdataaboutparkmanagementistheabsenceofdataaboutthegreenspaceworkforce.Itwastheintentionofthisstudytoincludeacoreindicatormeasuringtheextentofskillsinthegreenspacesector.However,forthereasonshighlightedbelow,thiswasnotpossible.

Peoplewhoworkinparksandgreenspaceshaveawiderangeofbackgroundsandskills:thereisnosingleprofessionalortradebodytowhichtheyallbelong,andnoeasywayofidentifyingthem.GreenspaceoccupationsfallwithinawiderangeofjobrolesandarenotadequatelydescribedbythecurrentStandardoccupationalclassifications(SOCcodes)andStandardindustrialclassifications(SICcodes)uponwhichnationaldatacollectiondepends.

CIPFAfinancialreturnsincludesomestafffigures.Butaswiththeweaknessofspendingfigures,owingtothedifferentwaysthatlocalauthoritiesorganisetheirparksandopenspaceservices,itisnotclearwhois,andisnot,includedinthepublishedfigures.

Somemoregeneraldatasets,includingtheCensus,theLabour�force�survey70andAnnual�business�inquiry,71includeinformationaboutthenumberofpeopleworkinginparticularoccupationalclassificationsthatwillincludepeopleworkinginthegreenspacesector.Analysisofthesedatasourcesdidyieldsomeresults,buttheyrevealedonlythenumberofemployeesinpublicadministrationwhofallundertheheadingof‘skilledagriculturalworkers’.Unfortunately,althoughthiscategoryincludeshorticulturalworkers,gardenersandgroundsmen/womenitalsoincludesfarmersandthoseworkinginagriculturalorfishingtrades.

Furthermore,thisinformationdoesnotprovideanyinformationaboutthelargenumberofstaffemployedbyprivatecontractorswhoworkinpublicparksandopenspaces.Neitherdoesthedatatellusanythingaboutthemanagement-levelorprofessionalstaffinvolvedinparksandopenspaceservices.

Thefactthatseniorparksservicemanagersarestatistically‘invisible’isaseriousweaknessgiventheimportanceofstrategicplanningtothelong-termsuccessofourparksandopenspaces.

Skills to grow: addressing the shortage of national dataInviewoftheproblemsoutlinedabove,CABESpaceisco-ordinatingthedevelopmentandimplementationofastrategythatsetsoutwhatisknownaboutskillsshortagesacrossthesector.Skills�to�growidentifiesactionstoaddressshortagesintheshorttermandproposalsforactionthatcanbetakeninthelongerterm.Alargenumberoforganisationsareinvolvedincreatinganddeliveringthisstrategy.72

Oneelementofthiswasthatin2008CABESpace,LantraandGreenSpaceundertookasurveyoflocalauthoritygreenspacemanagingdepartmentshighlightingthemainskillsissuesfacingthegreenspacesector(althoughthiscoversonly23urbanlocalauthorities).

Inaddition,in2009CABESpacecommissionedresearchintothegreenspaceworkforceinEngland.Thisprovidesforthefirsttimenationaldataonthetotalsizeandscopeofthesectoroperatinginpubliclyaccessiblegreenspaces.

Theresultsofbothsurveysareavailabletodownload.73

68 TheRoyalParksisanexecutiveagencyofgovernment,withanannualbudgetofover£20millionin2008/09,thatmanagesover2,000hectaresofhistoricparklandacrossLondon.WhilemostoftheRoyalParksareincentralLondon,three–Greenwich,RichmondandBushyparks–areinthesuburbs.TheCityofLondonCorporationownsandmanagesover4,000hectaresofparksandpublicspaces.Uniquely,theCityofLondonCorporationhasanindependentsourceoffundingderivedfrompropertyandtrustsaccumulatedover800years.ItisthismoneythatisusedtofundthegreenspacemanagedbytheCorporation.

69 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/local-authority-green-space-skills-survey70 LFSdataheldbyHWUisonlyavailableforGovernmentOfficeRegionsand

metropolitanornon-metropolitanauthoritygroupings.Itcannotbereportedatlocalauthoritylevel.

71 Link expired72 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/local-authority-green-space-skills-survey73 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/green-space-skills-2009andwww.cabe.org.uk/

publications/local-authority-green-space-skills-survey

32

The management and maintenance indicators

MM1Residentsatisfactionwithlocalauthorityparksandopenspaceservice

MM2AnnualspendonparksperheadofpopulationMM3CleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspaceMM4Statusofgreen/openspacestrategies

Thestudyanalysedfourindicatorsthatrelatetothemanagementandmaintenanceofgreenspace.IndicatorMM1,residentsatisfactionwiththeirauthority’sopenspaceservice,basedondatafromthe2009Place�survey,and2006BVPIsurvey;MM2annualspendbasedonfinancialdatafromCIPFAFinanceandgeneralstatisticsfrom2007/08;74MM3thecleanlinessandmaintenanceofspacesbasedondatafromKeepBritainTidy’sLEQSEsurvey2008;andMM4statusofgreen/openspacestrategiesbasedonCABESpacedata.

Management and maintenance: what the data tells us

Satisfaction with the parks serviceThe2009Place�surveyfoundthatgeneralsatisfactionwithparksandopenspacesinurbanareasis69percent,comparedwith70percentbasedon2006BVPIdata.Assumingthechangeisnottodowiththewayinwhichthetwosetsofdatawerecollected,thisshowsasmalldropinsatisfaction.

Itis,perhaps,unsurprisingthatmanagementandmaintenancehaveaclearcorrelationwithquality.UsingBVPIdata,whichisavailableinmoredetailthanthePlace�surveyandsocanbeanalysedtoagreaterdepth,satisfactionwiththeparksandopenspaceserviceseemstoshowsimilarpatternstothosereportedforqualityearlierwhichoveralldemonstratedquitestrongnorth-southandurban-suburbanpatterns.Residentsatisfactionwiththeirparksandopenspaceservicewashigherinthesouth,particularlyintheSouthWest,andlowerinthenorth,particularlyYorkshireandtheHumber(figure6).

TheindicatorMM3,cleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspace,showsratherdifferentpatterns.Instead,scoreswerebetterintheNorthEastandWestMidlandsandpoorerintheEastMidlands,SouthWestandSouthEast(figure6).

Source:BVPIsurveyforurbanauthoritieswithlocationcodeslinkedtowarddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).

Source:BVPIsurveyforurbanauthoritieswithlocationcodeslinkedtowarddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).

Management and maintenance in deprived areasAswiththequalityindicators,satisfactionwithparksandopenspaceswaslowerindeprivedareas.Thistime,theresultisalsosimilarforthecleanlinessindicatorMM3(figure7).However,thedifferencebetweendeprivedandaffluentareasisless,at6percentagepointsratherthan13percentagepoints.Areaswithmoresocialrentingandareaswithahighblackandminorityethnicpopulation(morethan40percentofwardpopulation)alsoshowlowerscoresonbothindicators.

74 CIPFAdata(Financeandgeneralstatistics)wasusedhereinpreferencetoCLGoutturndatasimplybecauseitwasmoreuptodate.Thereislittletochoosebetweenthesetwodatasourcesastheyreportsimilarheadlinefiguresandoffercompleteorvirtuallycompletecoverageofurbanauthorities.ThemoredetailedCIPFAdataintheLeisure,cultureandrecreationreportsismorerefinedbutlesscomplete.

Per

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Figure 6: Satisfaction with parks service and cleanliness by region

ResidentssatisfiedwithparksandopenspacesCleaninessandmaintenanceofgreenspace

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33

Modelling satisfaction with parks service Statisticaltechniques(regressionanalysisandlogisticregressionanalysis)wereusedtoaccountforsomeofthevariationinsatisfactionwithparks.75Themodelsdidnotprovideaclosefittothedata,butbecausetherewerealargenumberofobservationswecouldstillidentifysystematicassociationsthatarestatisticallysignificantandplausible.

Satisfactionwiththeparksservice,andproximitytoparks,werepositivelyrelatedtosatisfactionwithopenspaces,aftercontrollingfordemographicsandotherfactors.Inplaceswherelocalauthoritiesspendmoreonparksandopenspace,satisfactionishigher.Peoplewhothinkthatparksandopenspacesarevaluabletendtobemoresatisfiedwiththeservice.

Satisfactionwiththeserviceislowerindenserresidentialareas,andishigherinneighbourhoodswithmoregardenspace.

Highersatisfactionisassociatedwitholderresidentsand,marginally,withowneroccupiers.Lowersatisfactionisassociatedwithworkingresidents,studentsanddisabledpeople.Highersatisfactionisassociatedwithgrossinwardmigration,singlepersonhouseholdsandhigheroccupationalmix.Lowersatisfactionisassociatedwiththeproportionofblackandminorityethnichouseholdsandthosewithoutacar.

Satisfaction with sports provisionWecanlookatsatisfactionwithlocalauthoritysportandrecreationservicesinasimilarwayusingdatafromSportEngland’sActive�people�survey.Thereisarelationshipwithdeprivation,notdissimilartothatfoundwithparks.Inthemostdeprivedneighbourhoodsonlyjustover50percentaresatisfiedwithsportsprovision,and20percentaredissatisfied.Thiscompareswith65percentand10percentintheleastdeprivedareas.

CleanlinessTheindicatorforcleanliness,MM3,isbasedonthefindingsofKeepBritainTidy’sLocalenvironmentalqualitysurveysofEngland(LEQSE)for2008.76

Thisisanobjectivemeasureoflitteranddetritus.AnotherpotentialsourceofinformationisthedatafromtheBVPI,whichisasubjectivemeasureofwhatpeoplethinkaboutthecleanlinessoftheirlocality.Thiswasusedtocross-referencetheLEQSEdata.

LEQSEdatawasprovidedforasampleof40urbanauthorities.Ineachauthorityasmallnumberofpublicopenspacesareselectedandanumberofobservationsaremadebyinspectorswhogradedifferentpartsofeachspaceagainstanumberofcriteria:litter,leaves,fly-posting,fly-tippingandgraffiti.Eachisgradedonascalefrom1(worst)to7(best).Intotaltheanalysisprovidesabout1,000observationpoints.

Ingeneral,themoststrikingfeatureofanalysishereisthelowdegreeofvariationinthegrading,whicharealltowardsthehigherendoftherange,between5and7.Thereisrelativelylittlesystematicvariationinsomeoftheindicators,butitappearsthatthelittergradeprovidesareasonablepictureofvariationsinquality.Thisisprobablymoremeaningfulthantheaveragegradeacrossthefiveindicators.

Forbothlitterandtheoverallindex,higherscoresareshownforCentralLondon,southerncitycentresandsoutherntownfringelocations.LowerscoresareshownfortheMidlandsandnortherncitycentresandothernorthernurbanlocations,andinnerandouterLondon.

Thereisasystematicrelationshipwithdeprivation,particularlyonthelittergrade,whichfallsfrom5.74intheleastdeprivedto4.94inthemostdeprivedlocations.Thislink,betweendeprivedareasandlesscleanpublicspaces,issupportedbyfindingsinresearchcommissionedbytheJosephRowntreeFoundation,whichshowedthatmoreaffluentareastendtohavecleanerstreetsthandeprivedareas.77

Theresearchfoundthatthetwobiggestfactorsinareaswithenvironmentalproblemswerethepresenceoflow-incomehouseholds,andhigher-densityhousing(irrespectiveofincome).

75 Fortheregressionanalysis,MM1usedwascalculatedasa‘netsatisfactionscore’(proportionofsatisfied–proportionofdissatisfied).

76 www.keepbritaintidy.org77 Streetcleanlinessindeprivedandbetter-offneighbourhoods,see

34

80%ormore 70-79% 60-69% 55-59% Below55%

London detail

Map 3: Percentage of residents very or fairly satisfied with parks and open spaces, England and London detail (2009)

Source:Place�survey(2009).

35

How much is spent on urban green space?UsingdatafromCIPFAtocalculatespendingongreenspaceperheadofpopulationsuggeststhatlocalauthorityspendingisrelativelyhighintheNorthEastandtoalesserextenttheEastMidlands.SpendingperheadisrelativelylowintheSouthWestandLondon.CIPFAdatasuggeststhattheaveragespendperpersonisaround£17ayear.TheequivalentindicatorthatismeasuredbyAPSE(performanceindicator17)suggestsanaveragespendof£23perpersonperyear.78

Althoughspendingperhectarewasnotchosentobeacoreindicatorforthisreport,itwasalsoanalysed.79Thisonlyagreeswiththe‘perhead’patterntoalimitedextent—itsuggeststhatspendingperhectareishighintheNorthWestandLondon,andlowintheEastMidlands,theSouthWest,andtheEastofEngland.Thethreesouthernregionsappearaslowerspenders,relativetotheiramountsofopenspace.London,however,appearsmuchhigheronthisindex,Resultshereareprobablydistortedbythefactorsdiscussedabove.

DataaboutspendingisalsoavailablefromCABE’sLocal�authority�green�space�skills�survey(2008)whichprovidesfiguresfor23urbanauthorities.Thisrevealsperheadspendingofbetweenalmostnothing(lessthan£1perpersonayear)and£30perpersonayearonparks,withaveragespendingamongthe23authoritiesat£15perpersonayear.ThisiscomparabletotheaveragespendsuggestedbytheCIPFAdata.

APSEalsoprovidesacostindicator(performanceindicator2)basedonthecostofserviceperhectareofmaintainedland.Theresultsamongthe58authoritiesparticipatingintheirdatacollectionrevealcostsbetween£1,859and£11,935,withanaveragescoreof£5,545perhectare.

Green/open space strategiesAstrategicapproachtogreenandopenspacemaximisesitspotentialtoprovidepositivesocial,economicandenvironmentalvaluetoourtownsandcities.80IndicatorMM4trackedthestatusoflocalauthoritygreen/openspacestrategies,providingameasureoftheircommitmenttogreenspace.ThedatausedherewascollectedbyCABESpace,andcoversalltheurbanauthoritiesinEngland.81

Overall,99percentofurbanauthoritieseitherhaveagreen/openstrategyinplace,orareintheprocessofpreparingastrategy.Thisisasignificantstepforward:in2000only53percenthadastrategyorwerepreparingone;in2005itwas87percentandin2007itwas94percent.82

Datafromearly2010showsthat62percentofurbanlocalauthoritiesinEnglandhadinplaceacompletedgreen/openspacestrategy.Justunderhalf(41percent)ofthesestrategiesfollowPlanningPolicyGuidance17.

Thiscomparesfavourablywith2007when48percenthadcompletedagreen/openspacestrategy.

78 Caremustbetakenwhencomparingtheseaveragefigures,asthenumberandtypeofauthoritiesineachsampleisquitedifferent.APSEfiguresreportedhereincludereturnsfromruralandnon-Englishauthorities.

79 Usingthe‘broad’measureofgreenspacetakenfromGLUD.80 Open�space�strategies:�best�practice�guidance,CABESpaceandMayor

ofLondon,2009.81 Withtheexceptionofdatafrom2000whichwascollectedbythe

NationalAuditOffice.82Link expired

36

7 How people value urban green space

There are many different ways of considering and calculating the value of green spaces. For instance, expressing the social, environmental and health benefits that they bring to society as a financial value is something that has attracted an increasing amount of interest from researchers.83 However, in this chapter we are concerned instead with the value that different sorts of people assign to parks and green spaces. How important are they to people? Do people from different backgrounds, or living in different areas, think that they are more or less valuable than people in other situations? What are the implications of this for those who plan, manage or make policy decisions about parks and green spaces?

Value: about the data

Theamountthatpeoplevaluegreenspaceswasoneofthemostelusiveelementstocaptureinthisproject.Itishardtofindinexistingdatasources,althoughitisarguablyveryimportant.Assessingvalueismorethanunderstandingwhetherandhowpeopleuseparksandopenspaces;itisaboutunderstandingwhatthosespacesmeantopeople.Inordertocapturethis,welookedfordirectmeasuresofgreenspaceanditsvaluetopeople,ratherthanconstructingvaluemeasuresbasedoninformationaboutthecostsavingsattributedtoparkfunctionssuchasreducingairpollutionorenhancingthehealthofvisitors.84

The2009Place�surveyand2006BVPIsurveyincludetwovariablesthatappeartoprovidesomemeasureofthevaluegreenspacehasforpeople.Theserecordthenumberofresidentswhothinkthatnatureisimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive;andthenumberwhothinkthatparksandopenspaceareimportant.

Inaddition,DEFRA’sPublic�attitudes�and�behaviours�towards�the�environment�tracker�survey�askspeoplewhetherhavingparksandopenspacesneartowheretheyliveisimportanttothem.ThisisoneoftheUK’ssustainabledevelopmentindicators.Thisdataisveryuseful,butcannotbedisaggregatedintosmallareas,andsocannotbecross-referencedforfurtheranalysiswiththedatafromthePlace�surveyorBVPI.

People’swillingnesstogivetheirtimeis,perhaps,oneofthemosttellingmeasuresofpublicvalueandsothisisconsideredheretoo.

83 ForinstancetheTrustforPublicLandinAmericahascalculatedthatthefinancialbenefitsthatparksinthecityofPhiladelphiaalonecontributetotheirusersas$1billion.ResearchcommissionedbyNaturalEconomyNorthwestcalculatesthattheNorthWest’senvironmentaddsanestimated£2.6billioningrossvalue.www.naturaleconomynorthwest.co.uk

84 Thisisadifferenttypeof‘value’,basedoneconomicbenefits,andusedinthePhiladelphiaParkvaluework

37

The value indicators

V1Percentageofpeoplewhothinkthatlocalparksandopenspacesareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive

V2Percentageofpeoplewhothinkaccesstonatureneartowheretheyliveisimportant

DatafromBVPI2006wasusedtocalculatebothindicators(figure8).

Value: what the data tells us

Peopleappreciatelocalgreenspaces,andthisappreciationisincreasing.In2007,91percentofpeoplethoughtitwasveryorfairlyimportanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive,andby2009thishadrisento95percent.85

BVPIaskedpeoplewhetherdifferentthingsareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive.Thissortofindicatorismoreaboutthevaluesthatindividualpeopleholddear,ratherthanaboutthecurrentstateorperformanceofEngland’surbangreenspace.Item1is‘accesstonature’;item14is‘parksandopenspaces’.Theresponsestothetwoquestionsarenotthesame,andalthoughtheycanbecombinedtocreateanoverallpicture,thissomewhatbluntssomeofthemessages.

Theseindicatorstellastoryabouthowdifferentelementsofgreeninfrastructure—parksandothernaturalgreenareas—arevalued,bothbydifferenttypesofpeopleandbypeoplelivingindifferentkindsofareas.Takeninconjunctionwiththeevidenceputforwardearlierinthisreportonuse,thisprovidesapictureoftheneedforgreenspaceindifferenturbansettings.

Inregardtowhetherlocalparksandopenspacesareconsideredasimportant-thedatarecordshigherscoresinLondonandtheNorthWest,whicharethetwomosthighlyurbanisedregionsinEngland.TheyarealsoimportanttopeopleintheWestMidlandsandSouthEast,butarerecordedaslesssointheNorthEast,EastMidlandsandSouthWest,thelattertwobeingmoreruralregions(figure8).

Thisisconsistentwiththerelationshipfoundbetweenthevalueofparksandnature,anddensityofhousing.Inplaceswithfewerthan20dwellingsperhectare23percentthoughtparkswere

important.Thisroseto30percentinplaceswithmorethan70dwellingsperhectare.Somesimilaritycanthusbeseenwiththepatternandcommentsinrelationtogreenspaceuseandurbanform.

Communities value green spaces differentlyTheagegroupthatreportsthehighestvalueispeopleagedbetween25and44yearsold,withjustover30percentsayingthatparksareimportant.This,perhaps,reflectstheageatwhichpeoplehavechildrenandarelikelytomakeagreateruseofthisservice.

Overall,areasthathaveapopulationofbetween11and20percentblackandminorityethnicresidentsreportedhighestvalueinreferencetoindicatorV1.Inareaswithmorethan40percentoftheirpopulationfromblackorminorityethnicgroupsandinareasthathavealmostnoblackandminorityethnicresidents(lessthan2percentofpopulation)parkswerereportedasvaluedtheleast.ThedatarecordshigherreportedvaluebywhitepeoplethanblackorminorityethnicpeoplewithBlackAfricanandAfrican-Caribbeanpeoplerecordingthelowestlevelofreportedvalue.

85DatatakenfromSurvey�of�public�attitudes�and�behaviours�to�the� environment�survey,2007and2009

Source:BVPIsurveyforurbanauthoritieswithlocationcodeslinkedtowarddatacompiledforTransforming�Placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).

PercentagewhothinkthatlocalgreenspaceisimportanttomakingsomewhereagoodplacetolivePercentagewhothinkaccesstonatureneartowheretheyliveisimportant

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Per

cent

age

agre

e

NE NW EMid WMid SW

Region

E SE Lon EnglandYork&H

Figure 8: How people value nature and parks across the regions

38

Thesefindingsshouldnotbetakenatfacevalueandinterpretingtheseresultsisnotstraight-forward.Thisstudydidnotlookinmoredetailatthefactorsthatwillimpactonanswersthatpeoplewillgive,forinstancelevelofincomeandperceptionsofsafety,orthequantityandqualityofgreenspaceavailable.Thesecondpartofthisresearchexploresthisissueinmoredetailandlooksspecificallyatvalueandtheuseofgreenspacesanditsrelationshiptoethnicity.

ResultsforindicatorV2,accesstonature,showaninverserelationshipwithdensity.Itisreportedasvaluedmoreinthesuburbandistrictsandatthetownfringe,andlessincitycentres.Whereasvaluingparkscouldbeindicativeofaneedrelatingtocompensatingfortheenvironmentalconditionsofurbanliving,thepatternforvaluingnatureismoresuggestiveofaselectioneffect,wherebypeoplewhovalueaccesstonaturetrytolivewheretheycangainsuchaccessmoreeasily.Experiencemayreinforcevalues:livingclosertonaturemayfosteragreaterappreciationofit.

However,whenweconsiderdeprivation,deprivedarearesidentsarelesslikelytovalueaccesstonature(only10percentthinkitisimportant),comparedwithresidentsofaffluentneighbourhoods(20percentthinkitisimportant).The‘slope’ofthisrelationshipappearstobesteeperinrelationtovaluingnature.

Itseemslikelythatthedifferencesbetweenvaluingparksandvaluingnaturemaybesignificant.Perhaps

86 Link expired87 Basedonminimumwagelevels.

valuingparksmightbecharacterisedasreflectingabasicneedforgreenspaceassociatedwithurbanliving,particularlyforsomedemographicgroups.Whereasvaluingnatureinandofitselfcouldbeseenascapturinga‘higherorder’need,inthesensethatMaslowsuggestedinhishierarchyofneedswherebyonceothermorebasicphysiologicalneedsaresatisfied,individualsareabletofocusonotherneeds.86Thiswouldfitinwithacommonviewthatgreenenvironmentalvaluesaresomethingofamiddle-classpreoccupation,insofarastheyrepresentvaluesthatcometotheforewhenmorebasicneedshavebeenmet.Thisareaofresearch,likeproximity,willbenefitfromfurtheranalysis.

Volunteering as an indication of valueAnothermeasureofthevalueofgreenspaceiscapturedinfiguresthatshowthenumberofvolunteerdayscontributedtolocalparksandgreenspaces.

InCABE’s2008Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey,thenumberofdaysvolunteersworkedingreenspacesineachlocalauthorityarearangedfrom0to1,650,withanaverageof443days.Assumingthatthisisafairlyrepresentativecross-sectionofurbanauthoritiesinEngland,thisdatasuggeststhatvolunteersmaybecontributingmorethan62,000daysofwork(or290workyears)tolocalgreenspaceseveryyearinurbanareasalone.Infinancialtermsthisisworthatleast£3.4millionperyeartourbanEngland,andintheregionof£22,000toeachauthority.87

39

8 Conclusions and next steps

For too long, policymakers and decision makers, and those working in the green space sector, have found their work restricted by the gap in the national information about England’s urban green spaces. This research set out to gather together all sources of existing information about England’s urban green spaces, to draw the most complete picture possible of their state. All of the data sources analysed for this study had shortcomings. Other areas of data collection continue to be overlooked, for instance spending on green space.88 Despite serious shortages of sound, longitudinal data on key themes, it was possible to use the available information to draw statistically robust conclusions about the quality and quantity of our urban green space — and who benefits from it most, and least.

Thepreviouschapterspresentedourfindingsaccordingtothekeythemesidentifiedattheoutsetofthisproject:quantity,quality,use,proximity,managementandmaintenance,andvalue.Inadditionthesefindingswerecross-referencedwithsocio-economicdatasuchaslevelsofdeprivationandethnicity.

Thequantityofurbangreenspacevariesconsiderablybetweenthegovernmentregionsandtypesofurbanlocation.TheSouthWest,SouthEastandEastMidlandstendtohavehigherlevelsofgreenspaceprovision,comparedwithLondon,theNorthWestandtheWestMidlands.Suburbanandtownfringeareastendtohavemorepublicopenspaceandgreenspacethancitycentres,althoughcitycentrestendtohavemorerecreationfacilitiesandplayareas.Furthermore,qualityindicatorsaregenerallymorefavourableinthesouthernregionscomparedwiththenorthernregions,andgenerallybetterinsuburbanthaninurban/cityareas,exceptforcentralLondon.

Region-by-regiondataanalysisrevealssomeinterestingvariationsinqualityandquantity,butthemostdramaticdifferencesinprovisionwereshownwhenanalysedagainstdeprivationandaffluence.Overall,thedatarevealshowmuchgreenspaceprovisiondiffersaccordingtopeople’ssocio-economicandculturalbackground.

Thesefindingshaveimportantimplicationsforpolicymakers,thoseprovidingandmanagingpublicservices,andthemanyorganisationsconcernedwithmakingaplacesucceed.

Understandingthenatureofplacesleadstomoreinformedpolicydevelopmentandservicedeliveryatalllevels.Themechanismstocreateandsolveproblemsarealmostalwaysgeographicallystructured.89

Publicresourcesneedtobetargettedtobestpossibleeffect,andcollectingandmanagingbaselinedataabouturbangreenspaceshelpstomaintainastrategicview,co-ordinateprovision,measuretheeffectsofinvestmentorpolicyinitiatives,andrespondtochangingcircumstances.Thedatacansupportmoreequitableaccesstopublicservices,regardless,forinstance,ofincomeorethnicity.

Abaselineofdatawillenablechangetobetrackedovertimeandenableplanningforachangingclimate.Accuratedataaboutquantity,qualityanduseofgreenspaceswillhelpconnectprovisiontoneed.

88 �The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.

89Placematters:thelocationstrategyfortheUnitedKingdom,CommunitiesandLocalGovernment,2008.

40

Thefollowingsectionsdrawoutthekeypointsfromeachofthesixthemesanalysedforthisprojectandbringtogetherthefindingsabouthowgreenspaceprovisiondiffersaccordingtopeople’ssocio-economicandculturalbackground.

Thechapterconcludeswiththoughtsonnextstepsforresearch.

1. Almost nine out of 10 people use parks andgreen spaces, and they value them. The2009Place�surveyfoundthatinurbanareas,87percentofthepopulationhaveusedtheirlocalparkoropenspaceinthelastyear,and79percenthaveuseditinthelastsixmonths.ThePlace�surveyshowsthatparksandopenspacesarethemostfrequentlyusedserviceofallthepublicservicestracked.Thiscompareswith32percentthathadvisitedconcerthalls,and26percentwhohadvisitedgalleries.Infact,HeritageLotteryFundresearchreports1.8billionvisitstoparksinEnglandeveryyear.90

Furthermore,peopleappreciatethesespacesandthisappreciationisincreasing:in2007,91percentofpeoplethoughtitwasveryorfairlyimportanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive,andby2009thishadrisento95percent.91

2. If people are satisfied with local parks, theytend to be satisfied with their council. Thereisastronglinkbetweenpeople’ssatisfactionwiththeirlocalparksandopenspaces,andtheirsatisfactionwiththeirneighbourhood.Satisfactionwithneighbourhoodisoneofthekeythingsthataffectspeople’sperceptionsoftheircouncil’sperformance.92Thisisparticularlyacuteinthemostdeprivedareas,whereneighbourhoodsatisfactionisatitslowest.

Thistallieswithinternationalresearchbasedontelephoneinterviewswithover28,000peopleintheUSthatfoundthequalityofthebuiltenvironment,includinggreenspaces,tobeamongtheveryimportantfactorscontributingtocommunitysatisfaction.93

Puttinginplaceanopenspacestrategyispotentiallyoneingredientofsuccess.Oftheauthoritiesthathaveshownthebiggestimprovementinresidents’satisfactioninthelastfouryears,nearlythreequartershavecompletedtheiropenspacestrategy.Furthermore,statisticalmodellingofgreenspaceservicesatisfactiondatashowsthatitispositivelyrelatedtothequantityandtheproximityofparksandrecreationareas,andtoservicespending.

90 HLF�funding�for�public�parks�1st�April�1994�–�31st�March�2009,HeritageLotteryFundPolicyandstrategicdevelopmentdepartmentdatabriefing,October2009.

91 Survey�of�public�attitudes�and�behaviours�to�the�environment�survey,2007and2009

92 Link expired93 Beautiful�places:�the�role�of�perceived�aesthetic�beauty�in�community�satisfaction,

Workingpaperseries:MartinProsperityResearch.PaperpreparedbyRichardFloridaetal.,March2009.

41

3. The provision of parks in deprived areas is worse than in affluent areas.Peopleindeprivedareas,wherevertheylive,receiveafarworseprovisionofparksandgreenspacesthantheiraffluentneighbours.Theyoftendonothavegardensandsoaccesstogood-qualitypublicgreenspacemattersevenmore.Themostaffluent20percentofwardshavefivetimestheamountofparksorgeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)perpersonthanthemostdeprived10percentofwards.

Soifyouliveinanaffluentsuburb,youarealsolikelytohaveanabove-averagequantityofgoodparksnearby.Ontheotherhand,ifyouliveinadeprivedinner-cityward,withhigh-densityhousing,youmighthavemanysmall,poor-qualitygreenspacesbutyouareunlikelytohaveaccesstolargegreenspaces,orgood-qualitygreenspace.Comparingdeprivedandaffluentareas,residents’generalsatisfactionwiththeirneighbourhoodfallsfromaround80percentinaffluentplacestoaround50percentinthemostdeprivedplaces.

Thewardswithhighoverallproportionsofsocialrentingtendedtoscorethelowestonthemajorityofmeasuresrelatingtothequalityofgreenspaces.Itwasnotpossibletoexplorethisinafinerlevelofdetailowingtotheabsenceofinformationaboutsocialhousinggreenspaceinnationaldatacollection.Thisisanimportantinformationgap.

Peoplewhoarenotworkingbecauseofunemploymentorsickness—anindividualmarkerofdeprivation—tendtobefoundinareaswithlowerquantityandqualityofgreenspace.Theimpactsarecumulative.Thestudyfoundthatlimitinglonger-termillnessordisabilityisassociatedwithlowersatisfactionwithneighbourhood,lowerqualityofparksservice,lowerparksuseandmuchlowerphysicalactivity.

4. People from minority ethnic groups tend to have less green space and it is of a poorer quality. Areaswithveryfewblackandminorityethnicresidentstendtohavemoregreenspace,anditisofagoodquality.Werecognisethatthisisintimatelyrelatedtothecircularityofdisadvantage–nearlyallminorityethnicgroupsarelesslikelytobeinpaidemploymentthanwhiteBritishmenandwomenandaremorelikelytobelivinginareasofdeprivation.94

Wardsthathavealmostnoblackandminorityethnicresidents(lessthan2percentofwardpopulation)

havesixtimesasmanyparksaswardswheremorethan40percentofthepopulationarepeoplefromblackandminorityethnicgroups.Theyhave11timesmorepublicgreenspace,ifonelooksatalltypes95andnotjustparks.

Thedifferencesaremostmarkedontheindicatorofgeneralsatisfactionwithneighbourhood,whenanalysedbyethnicity(ratherthanaffluence).Onlyhalfofresidentsinwardswithmorethan40percentoftheirpopulationsfromblackorminorityethnicgroupsaresatisfied,comparedwith70percentinwardswithlessthan2percent.

Acrossthestudy,patternsofethnicmixwereinteresting.Areaswithintermediateproportionsofblackandminorityethnicresidents(between11and40percent)recordedthehighestlevelsofuseofparksandopenspaces.Inaddition,inwardswithbetween11and20percentofthepopulationfromblackorminorityethnicgroupsthestoryismorepositiveinregardtolevelsofsatisfaction,with70percentofthepopulationbeingsatisfiedwithgreenspaceprovision.

5. The higher the quality of the green space, the more likely it is to be used.Regardlessofyoureconomiccircumstances,accesstogreenspaceisbeneficialtoyourhealth.96Ifanareahashigh-qualityparks,itislikelythatmoreresidentswillusethemmoreoften.Parksinthemostdeprived10percentofwardshaveanaverageof51visitsperyear,comparedwith62inthemostaffluentwards.

ThispatternissupportedbyresearchwhichfoundthatparksrestoredwithmoneyfromtheHeritageLotteryFundhaveseenaveragevisitornumbersriseby68percent.

People’slevelofphysicalactivityisrelatedtoaffluence,orlackofit.Inthemostdeprivedwards,wherequalityofgreenspaceprovisionislower,only40percentofadultsengageinmoderatephysicalactivity,comparedwithnearly60percentinthemostaffluentwards.

94 An�anatomy�of�economic�inequality�in�the�UK�–�summary,ReportoftheNationalEqualityPanel,GovernmentEqualitiesOffice,2010.

95 Gardensnotincluded.96 Mitchell,RandPopham,F,‘Effectofexposuretonaturalenvironmenton

healthinequalities:anobservationalpopulationstudy’,The�Lancet372(9650):1655-60,2008.

42

Thereisgreatscopeforfuturework:

Exploring the economic benefitsPublicspacesaretheonepublicservicethateverybodyusesonadailybasis,thatarefreeandavailabletoallandthatimpactoneverybody’swell-being.However,provingthedirectimpactofinvestmentonwell-beingiscomplicatedbytheneedtotakeintoaccountlongtimescales:benefitsaccrueovermanyyears.Thosewhomaketheinvestmentandthosewhobenefitarenotalwaysdirectlyconnected,makingapolicycasecomplicatedtopresent.

Cityparkeconomicsisanemergingdisciplineandmoreresearchintotheeconomicvaluecontributedbygreenspacestotownsandcitiesisneeded.97Thefinancialbenefitshigh-qualityparksandgreenspacescontributetocitieshavebeenexaminedinresearchbytheTrustforPublicLandinAmerica.ItsstudyenumeratestheeconomicvalueoftheCityofPhiladelphia’sparksystemforcleanair,cleanwater,tourism,health,propertyvalueandcommunitycohesion.98

ResearchcommissionedbyNaturalEconomyNorthwest,ajointprogrammeoftheNorthwestRegionalDevelopmentAgencyandNaturalEngland,bringstogetherawiderangeofevidenceonthemultiplebenefitsofgreeninfrastructure,focusinginparticularonitsroleincreatingeconomicprosperityandstabilityfortheregion.TheresearchcalculatesthattheNorthwest’senvironmentgeneratesanestimated£2.6billioningrossvalueaddedandsupports109,000jobsinenvironmentandrelatedfields.99

Exploring the environmental benefitsProvingtheenvironmentalbenefitsofurbangreenspaceisanemergentscience,andtodatemostfocushasbeenonruralareasinEngland.Thevalueofgreeninfrastructure(thenetworksofparks,gardens,allotments,trees,greenroofs,cemeteries,woodlands,grasslands,moorsandwetlandareas)fortownsandcitiesrequiresfurtheranalysis.

97 Link expired98 How�much�value�does�the�city�of�Philadelphia�receive�from�its�parks�and�

recreation�system?,TrustforPublicLand,2008. 99Link expired

Itisimportanttoprovidegreenspacesthatareappropriateforpeopleofdifferentages.Youngpeopleagedbetween16and24reportlowerqualityacrossallindicatorsanalysedforthestudy:15percentthoughttheirlocalparksandopenspacesweretheaspectoftheirareasthatneededmostimprovement,comparedwith8percentof55-74yearolds.

Overall,thestrongcorrelationsbetweenpoorqualityandquantityofspacesindeprivedareas,andthelowlevelsofphysicalactivityofresidents,stronglysuggestthatinvestinginthequalityofparksandgreenspacesisanimportantwaytotackleinequalitiesinhealthandwell-being.Thesecondpartoftheresearchexploresthisinmoredetail.

Therelationshipbetweenqualityanduseisnotasclear-cutasotherindicatorsanalysed.Theurbanform–thelevelofdensityofhousing–doesimpactonuseofparks.Thoseareasthataredenser,withfewgardensandahighernumberofflats,tendtohavehigherlevelsofuse.Asexpected,useofparksandformalgreenspaceishigherintheareaswhereresidentshaveaccesstolessprivategreenspace.Inaddition,peoplelivingindenserareasandcitycentresreportedhigherscoresintermsofvaluingtheirparksandopenspaces.Thisisalsoreflectedintheregionalpatternswhichtendtoshowhigherscoresonthis‘value’indicatorinmoreurbanisedregions.

Next steps

Provingtheeconomic,socialandenvironmentalvalueofurbangreenspaceisnotstraightforward.Inadditiontotheshortageofrobustnationaldata,analysisiscomplicatedbythefactthatgreenspacevalueconsistsofelementsthatarenoteasilymeasuredowingtothedifficultyofcontrollingforinterferingvariables.Greenspacesarebytheirnaturemultifunctionalandanalysisfallsbetweendifferentacademicareas.Todate,cross-disciplinaryinvestigationintothemanyvaluespresentedbyurbangreenspacehasbeenlimited.

Thisstudyshowswherethereisplentyofinformation,forinstancedatarelatingtocleanliness,andwherethereareseriousgaps,forinstancedataonspendandgreenspaceskills.Itclarifiesthestrengthsandweaknessesofexistingdata.Itwillhelptoinformaccuratedatacollection,locallyandnationally,andsuggestswheremoreworkwouldbebeneficial.

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ThesecondpartofresearchcarriedoutforCABEbyOPENspaceResearchCentre,EdinburghCollegeofArt,incollaborationwithHeriot-WattUniversity,usesdatainthisreportasabaseline.Itexaminesinmoredepththeimpactofthequalityofgreenspacesonthewell-beingofpeoplelivinginsixdeprivedurbanareas.Itfocusesonblackandminorityethniccommunitieswithintheseareasandtherelationshipbetweenperceptionsofqualityofurbangreenspaceanditsuse–anareaofresearchthathastodatereceivedlittleattention.

100 StrategyUnit,Food�matters:�a�strategy�for�the�21st�century,London:CabinetOffice,2008.

101 ForexampleNeal,SandAgyeman,J,�The�new�countryside?,2006.

Thisanalysisshouldconsiderissuesatawiderscalethanhasbeenemployedtodate.Forinstance,theenvironmentalvalueofgreeninfrastructureforthemanagementoffloodwateriswiderthanthequantityofwaterthatisstored,andisalsoabouttheoperationofgreennetworksacrossdifferentspatialscales.

Exploring the social benefitsThereisgreatscopeforfurtherresearchonthesocialbenefitsofurbangreenspace.Therelationshipbetweenaccessanduseofgreenspaceandpositivehealthoutcomesisexplanatory,notcausal.Inparticular,moreworkisneededonchildren’suseandaccesstogreenspace.Childrenhavelesscontactwithnaturenowthanatanytimeinthepastanditisestimatedthatby2020halfofallchildrencouldbeobese.100

Thereisalsoanabsenceofresearchintothequalityandtypeofurbangreenspaceprovisionexperiencedbysocialtenantsandhowthisimpactsontheirwell-being.Thegreenspaceownedandmanagedbysociallandlordsisnotmapped,althoughapilotprojectbyNaturalEnglandisdevelopingamethodologytodothis.

Finally,thereisalackofin-depthinvestigationintodeprivation,ethnicityandthequalityandtypesofaccesstourbangreenspace.EvidenceofincomeandraceinequalitiesinaccesstourbangreenspaceintheUKislimitedtoahandfulofstudiesandmostoftheresearchonethnicityandlandscapehasfocusedonruralcontexts.101

However,accesstonatureismostlyoccurringinthelocal,urbanneighbourhoodcontextashistoricallyblackandminorityethnicpopulationsareconcentratedininnercitiesandurbanareas.Thereisalsoalackofquantitativeresearchusinglargersamplesofblackandminorityethnicgroupsinrelationtohealthandphysicalbehaviourandattitudestogreenspace.Researchonthewayinwhichurbangreenspacefacilitatessocialintegrationandcommunitycohesionislimited.

44

Appendix 1: Review of sources of data about green space in England

Data source Data owner CommentActive�peoplesurvey SportEngland Large-scalesurveyofpeople’sleisureandphysicalactivityin

England(around1,000perauthority).Collectedannuallyfrom2005to2010.

Allotmentsites2004/05

CommunitiesandLocalGovernment

GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.

Annual�business�inquiry

OfficeforNationalStatistics

Annualsurveyofbusinessescollectinginformationaboutemployment,enterprise,expenditureandstock.Doesnotappeartoofferinformationaboutpeopleworkinginthegreenspacesector.Notusedforthisstudy.

APSEperformanceindicators

AssociationofPublicServiceExcellence

APSEmanagesabenchmarkingclubthatallowsauthoritiestobenchmarktheirpracticesagainstotherUKauthorities.ThereisalargesuiteofperformanceindicatorswhichAPSEmaintains,includingseveralonpublicopenspaceandplaygrounds,althoughthenumberofsubscriberstoeachindicatorvaries.Itwasnotpossibletoaccessnon-aggregateddata.Asaresult,APSEperformanceindicatorsareusedinthisprojectasbenchmarkfiguresonly.

Areasofoutstandingnaturalbeauty

NaturalEngland AvailableviaNaturalEngland.

Athleticstracks SportEngland Coversbothgrassandsynthetictracks.AvailableviaActive�placespowergateway.Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).

BigBirdWatch RSPB CapturesobservationsofbirdlifeindomesticgardensacrosstheUK.Severalmillionentries.Couldbeusedtoconstructsomeurbanbiodiversitymeasures,butnotstrictlylinkedtogreenspace.Notusedforthisstudy.

Burialgrounds2006 DCA Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).

BVPI/Place�survey CLG/AuditCommission

Regularsurveyofresidentscollectinginformationaboutsatisfactionwithneighbourhoodqualityandlocalauthorityservices.Includesanumberofmeasuresrelevanttogreenspace,includingviewsaboutnature,parkusefrequencyandsatisfactionwithparksservice.Place�surveynowincludesself-reportedhealthstatus.Unfortunatelynotallofthemostrecentdata(Place�survey2009)wasavailableforthisstudysoitreliesonBVPIdatafrom2006wherenecessary.

Census2001 OfficeforNationalStatistics

Usedforavarietyofmeasuresincludingpublicsectoremploymentinagriculturalgradesandcontextualsocio-economicindicators.

CIPFAFinanceandgeneral;leisure,cultureandrecreation

CharteredInstituteofPublicFinanceandAccountancy

Localauthorityspendingdatacollatedannually.Thefinanceandgeneraldataincludesalmostallurbanauthorities.Theculture,sportandrecreationdataoffersalotmoredetailaboutspendingonpublicopenspace,butcoversonlyabout50percentofEnglishurbanauthorities.

45

CLGoutturndata CLG Informationaboutlocalauthorityspending;includesheadlinefigureforopenspace(grossofincome)andcoversallEnglishauthorities.Worksheetdoesnotallowcomparisonbetweenauthorities,makinganalysistime-consuming.Notusedinthecontextofthisproject(CIPFAFinanceandgeneralstatisticsusedinstead).

CommunityForests ForestryCommission AvailableviaMAGIC.Communitygardensandcityfarms2004/05

CLG AvailableviaCLG.Pointdata.

CountryParks NaturalEngland AvailableviaMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.Doorstepgreens NaturalEngland AvailableviaMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.English�house�conditionsurvey

CLG Continuoussurveyfrom2002to2008collectinginformationabouttheconditionandenergyefficiencyofEnglishhousing.NowmergedintoEnglish�housingsurvey.Basedonassessorscores,andincludesinformationabouttheconditionofthestreet/environmentadjacenttothebuilding(eglitter).However,datacannotbelinkedtogreenspaceandwasnotincludedinthisproject.

Environmentalqualityindex(EQI)

EnvironmentAgency AmappingtoolcreatedfortheEnvironmentAgencythatcalculatescomparativeenvironmentalqualityscoresforEnglishlocalauthoritiesbasedon12underlyingenvironmentalfactors,includingairandwaterquality,greenspace(GLUD),derelictlandandIMD.

FieldsinTrustPlayingFields

FieldsinTrust DatabaseofplayingfieldsinwhichFIThasaninterest.Postcodesoraddressesnotalwaysincluded.

GLUD(GeneralisedLandUseDatabase)

CLG ProvidescomprehensiveinformationaboutlandusecoverinEngland.Includestwocategoriesrelatingtogreenspace:domesticgardensandgreenspace.ThegreenspacecategoryinGLUDcoversanythinggreenfromfarmlandtoparkstoforest.

Golfcourses SportEngland AvailableviaActive�places�powergateway.Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).

Grasspitches SportEngland AvailableviaActive�places�powergateway.Coverssportspitchesanddetailsthetotalnumberofpitchesoneachsite.Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).

Greenbelt CLG AvailableviaMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.GreenFlagparks1997-2009

KeepBritainTidy,GreenSpaceandBTCV

AnnualcountofGreenFlagawardsbyauthority.Pointdatainallcasesexcept2005/06forwhichGISbasedboundarydataisavailable.

GreenHeritageSitewinners2004/05

KeepBritainTidy,GreenSpaceandBTCV

Pointdata.

GreenPennantparks2004/05and2005/06

KeepBritainTidy,GreenSpaceandBTCV

Pointdata.

46

Green/openspacestrategydata

CABESpace Regularsurveyoflocalauthoritiesupdatingcurrentsituationre:green/openspacestrategies.

Greenspacepolicydesignations

Landmark GISdataillustratinggreenspaceandthepolicydesignationswhichapplytoit.Basedoninformationfromlocalauthoritydevelopmentframeworks,andcouldprovideavaluablealternativesourceofdataaboutthearea,numberandtypeofgreenspacesinurbanEngland.Thisdatawasnotincludedinthisstudyastherewasacosttouse.

GreenSTAT GreenSpace Park-by-parksurveyfilledinbyusersandgatheringdetailedinformationaboutusefrequency,durationofvisit,benefits,facilities,designandsatisfaction.

HeritageCoast NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.Indexofmultipledeprivation(2007)

CLG Usedtoprovidecontextualinformationonlevelsofdeprivation.

Labour�force�survey OfficeforNationalStatistics

TheLabour�force�survey(LFS)isaquarterlysamplesurveyofhouseholdslivingatprivateaddressesinGreatBritain.ItspurposeistoprovideinformationontheUKlabourmarket.

LEQSELocal�environmental�quality�survey�of�England

KeepBritainTidy Arepresentativedatasetassessingenvironmentalqualityinlocalauthorityareas.Databasedoninspectorassessmentsoflanduse,litter,graffiti,cleanliness.Forthepurposesofthisstudy,asampleofdatacovering40urbanauthoritieswasprovided.

Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey(2008)

CABESpace,Lantra,GreenSpace

One-offsurveyoflocalauthoritiesthatgathereddataaboutspending,staffingandskills.CoversonlyasmallproportionofurbanauthoritiesinEngland.

Localnaturereserves NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.Millenniumgreens NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.Nationalnaturereserves

NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.

NationalParks NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.NationalTrustLandHoldings

NationalTrust ComprehensivedatabaseofNTlandholdingsacrossEnglandandWales,includingGISboundarydata.

Public�parks�assessment2001

AuditCommission Surveyoflocalauthoritiesdocumentingoverallnumberandareaofparksandrecreationspace,detailsofparksofnationalandlocalhistoricvalue,plusinformationonspendingamountsandtrends,staffingandmanagement.

Public�parks�assessmentupdate2005

NationalAuditOffice/GreenSpace

Similartotheoriginalsurveyin2001,butslightlylimitedinoverallresponserateandtopicscovered.

Ramsarsites NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.Registeredcommonland

NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.

Registeredparksandgardens

EnglishHeritage AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.

RSPBreserves RSPB AvailablefromMAGIC.Scheduledmonuments

EnglishHeritage AvailablefromMAGIC.

47

Specialareasofconservation

NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.

SpecialProtectionAreas

NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.

Sitesofspecialscientificinterest

NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.

Syntheticpitches SportEngland AvailablefromActive�places�powergateway.Notincludedintheprojectortheinventory.

Taking�partsurvey DCMS Ongoingnationalsurveyofvariousleisure,sportsandculturalactivities(around29,000participantseachyear).Notanalysedfully,butusedtobenchmarkotherdata.

Transforming�placesdatabase

JosephRowntreeFoundation

Includesvariablesfromvarioussources,egCensus,IMD,GLUD,NationwideBuildingSociety,planningdataandneighbourhoodstatisticscoveringtheperiod1998-2006.CoversallwardsinEngland.ProducedbyHeriot-WattUniversityforaJosephRowntreestudy,Housing�investment�and�neighbourhood�market�change(2007).

TreesinTownsII(2008)

CLG SurveyoftreesinthetownsandcitiesofEngland(updatingcarriedoutin1992/93).Includesinformationabouttreesinasampleof147townsandcitiesinruralandurbansettings.Underlyingdatadoesnotincludelocalauthoritynamesorcodes,andsamplesanumberoflandusetypesincludinggreenspace.

Villagegreens DEFRA AvailablefromMAGIC.Pointdata.WoodlandTrustsites WoodlandTrust AvailablefromMAGIC.WoodsforPeople ForestryCommission AvailablefromForestryCommission.

48

Appendix 2: Review of indicators that capture some element of green space

Non-UK indicators:

CEROI indicatorsECI104:availabilityoflocalpublicopenareasandservicesasmeasuredby:

Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofapublicopenareathatislargerthan5,000m2(%);

Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofhealthservices(%);

Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofpublictransport(%);

Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofrecyclingfacilities(%);

Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofschools(%).Publicaccesstogreenspaces,asmeasuredbygreenspaceswithpublicaccess(m2/inhabitants).Qualityofurbanwildlife:numberofbirdspecies.Greenareas:percentageofbuilt-uparea.Investmentsingreenarea:maintenancecostsperyearasapercentageofcityproduct.

Urban Audit indicatorsGreenspacetowhichthepublichasaccess(m2percapita).Proportionofareacoveredbygreenspace.Proportionofareausedforsports/leisure.Land(m2)inrecreationalsportsandleisureusepercapita.

New Zealand, sustainable development indicators:Residents’ratingoftheirsenseofprideinthewaytheircitylooksandfeels.Residents’perceptionoftheiroverallqualityoflife.Extentandlegalprotectionofindigenousvegetationcover.

New Zealand quality of life indicatorsTotalhectaresofgreenspaceper1,000population(definedasopenspaceunderthemanagementorcontrolofcouncils).Residents’ratingofeaseofaccesstogreenspace(usinga5pointscalefromveryeasytoverydifficult).

Auckland Public Health Service (NZ) health and well-being measure102

Geographicaccesstogreenactivityspace,basedonproximity(distancetonearest),opportunity(sizeofnearest)andchoice(alternativewithindistance).Greenactivityplaceisdefinedaspublicorquasi-publicspacethatprovidesopportunitiesforphysicalactivityinagreensetting.Itdoesnotincludefarmlandandisrelevantonlytourbanareas.

Melbourne environmental indicators (Australia)AnnualnumberofvisitorstoMelbourne’sparksandgardens(millionsofvisits);ThemainreasonforvisitingoneofMelbourne’smajorparks;WhatvisitorsenjoyedaboutMelbourne’sparksandgardens.

49

San Francisco (US) sustainable city indicators:Percentage of the population with a recreational facility and a natural setting within a 10 minute walk.Number of neighbourhood green street corridors created annually.Number of volunteer hours spent annually on maintenance of open space.Annual municipal expenditure on parks, open space, and streetscapes.

Germany, State of the Environment report: Number, area and percentage of each state covered by nature reserves.103

Netherlands, green space indicators:104

Availability of green areas in cities — the number of parks, woods or other green areas within 500m. Birds in cities — a count of 16 species and their prevalence (winter census). Visits to woods, nature and recreational areas: % of residents visiting constructed recreational areas outside cities, urban parks and forests; and protected nature areas.

UK indicators:

UK sustainable development indicatorsEnvironmentalquality:populationslivinginareaswith,inrelativeterms,theleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions(2001/06).105Localenvironmentalquality:percentageofassessmentsthatarepoor/unsatisfactorybasedonlitter,dogfouling,detritus,weeds,fly-tipping,fly-posting,graffiti,physicalappearance,conditionandmaintenance.UsesKeepBritainTidydata.Satisfactioninlocalarea:percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwiththequalityoftheplacesinwhichtheylive(a)overall,(b)inNeighbourhoodRenewalFundareas.Greenspace:importanceofgreenspace—thenumberofpeoplewhothinkthatisveryorfairlyimportanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive.Frequencyofgreenspaceuse–theproportionofpeopleusinggreenspaceforsixfrequencybands.

Audit Commission area profilesProportionofdevelopedlandthatisderelict(basedonNLUDdata).Areaoflanddesignatedasasiteofspecialscientificinterest(SSSI)withinthelocalauthorityarea(basedonNaturalEnglanddata).TheperecentageareaoflanddesignatedasaSSSIwithinthelocalauthorityarea,whichisfoundtobeinfavourablecondition(basedonNaturalEnglanddata).Percentageofresidentswhothinkthatfortheirlocalarea,overthepastthreeyears,parksandopenspaceshavegotbetterorstayedthesame.(BasedonCLGBVPIdata.)

Natural England accessible natural green space standard (ANGSt)Everyhomeshouldbewithin300mofanaccessiblenaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.

Eachhomeshouldalsohaveaccesstoatleastoneaccessible20hectaresitewithin2km;atleastoneaccessible100hectaresitewithin5km;andatleastoneaccessible500hectaresitewithin10km.

50

Scottish Natural Heritage indicators106

Urbanlandcoveredbylocalplandesignationsorpolicies(greenbelt,landscapedesignations,natureconservationdesignation,semi-naturalgreenspaceandgreennetworks).Greenspaceperperson(fourScottishcities).

Greenspace Scotland (State of Scotland’s Greenspace report)Statusofopenspaceauditsandstrategies.Extentofgreenspacebylocalauthority(hectarage,percentageofurbanarea,perthousandpopulation).Typeofgreenspacebylocalauthority(hectarage,percentageofurbanarea,perthousandpopulation).Publicattitudestogreenspace.Localsatisfactionwithgreenspace.

Wales Assembly Government sustainable development indicators Indicator27a:percentageofpeoplestatingthattheycouldaccessaparkoropenspaceeasilyintheLiving�in�Walessurvey.Indicator27b:additionalindicatorfromrolloutofCountrysideCouncilforWales’s(CCW)greenspacetoolkit(tobedeveloped).Indicator29a:percentageoftotallengthoffootpathsandotherrightsofwaywhichwereeasytousebythepublic.Indicator29b:anindicatorofdamagingimpactsofaccess(tobedeveloped).Indicator29c:changeinnumberandextentoftranquilareasasdefinedinCCWmappingwork(tobedeveloped).Indicator29d:additionalindicatortobeconsideredfollowingthedevelopmentoftheOutdoor�recreation�survey(tobedeveloped).

102Link expired103Link expired104Link expired105 IMDusedtodeterminedeprivation;environmentalconditionsareambient

airpollution,industrialairbornereleases,greenspace,habitatfavourabletobiodiversity,derelictland,floodrisk,riverwaterquality,housingquality.Ineachoftheseconditionsthepopulationlivinginthe10percentofareaswiththeleastfavourableconditionshasbeendetermined.

106 www.snh.org.uk/SNHi

Appendix 3: In-depth review of 52 indicators

Oftheseindicators,justunderhalfareUKbased,and17aredrawnfromEUmemberstatesorEuropeaninstitutions.Althoughthe52measurescaptureawiderangeofinformationaboutgreenspace,anumberofthemesareidentifiableandarecommontothethemeschosentostructurethisresearch.

1. Quantity:Indicatorsthatmeasurequantityareeitherabsolutemeasuresorrelativemeasures.Forinstance,theEurope-wideUrbanAudit107recordstheproportionofanareacoveredbygreenspaceorusedforsportsandleisure.Insomecasesrelativequantitymeasuresrecordtheareaofgreenspaceperthousandpopulationorperperson,forinstanceNewZealand’squalityoflifeindicators.108

2. Proximity:Indicatorsthatconceptualisetheamountofgreenspaceavailableratherdifferentlybylookingatproximityorphysical/geographicalaccessibilitytousers.Theseproximitymeasurestendtorecordthenumberorpercentageofinhabitantslivingwithinacertaindistanceofagreenspace.IndicatorsusedfortheCitiesEnvironmentReportsontheinternet(CEROI),109aprogrammethatispartoftheUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme,useproximitytomeasurephysicalaccesstoopenspaceandpublicservices.ThisisalsoattheheartofNaturalEngland’saccessiblenaturalgreenspacestandard(ANGSt),110whichexpressesthetargetofeveryhomebeingwithin300metresofanaccessiblenaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.

3. Quality:Indicatorsthatcapturesomethingofthequalityofgreenspace,inmanycasesintermsofbiodiversityorconservationstatus.CEROIindicators,forinstance,includeameasureofurbanwildlifebasedonnumberofbirdspecies.IntheUKthereareseveralmeasuresexpressingboththeareaoflandthatiscoveredbyvariousdesignations,forinstancesitesofspecialscientificinterest,andtheconditionofthosesites.111

4. Use:Indicatorsfocusingonpeople’suseofgreenspaceandtheirfeelingsabouttheirneighbourhoodgreenspaces.InMelbourne,Australia,thecity’senvironmentalindicatorsincludethreemeasurestodowiththenumberofvisitorstoMelbourne’sparksandgardens,theirreasonsforvisitingandwhattheyenjoyedabouttheirvisit.112

5. Management:Averysmallnumberofmeasuresthatfocusonthemanagementofgreenspace.InCEROI,thisismeasuredasannualmaintenancecostsasapercentageofcityproduct,whileinSanFranciscoitissimplymeasuredasannualspendonparks,openspaceandstreetscapes.113

107108 www.bigcities.govt.nz/index.htm109 www.ceroi.net110 Link expired111 Availablefromwww.magic.gov.uk112 Link expired113 www.sfenvironment.org

51

Link expired

52

Appendix 4: Suggested indicators/proxies to measure the state of England’s urban green space

Suggested indicator/measure Data Source

Greenspace(hectares)perthousandpopulation. GLUDandCensus

Percentageofpeopleusinggreenspacebyfrequency(sixbands). BVPI/Place�survey

Totalgreenspaceperthousandchildren. GLUDandCensus

GreenFlagparks:numberperthousandpopulation. CLGandCensus

Percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwithqualityofplacesinwhichtheylive.

BVPI/Place�survey

Annualspendonparksperhectareofgreenspace. CIPFAandGLUD

Percentageofresidentswhothinkthatlocalparksandopenspaceshavegotbetterorstayedthesame.

BVPI/Place�survey

Residentsatisfactionwithlocalauthorityparksandopenspaceservice. BVPI/Place�survey

Cleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspace. KeepBritainTidy

Percentageoflocalauthoritycoveredbygreenspace. GLUD

Qualityofurbanwildlife(numberofbirdspecies). RSPBBigbirdwatchdata

Percentageofpeoplewhothinkthataccesstonatureandparksandopenspacesareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive.

BVPI/Place�survey

Numberofhomeswithin300mofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.

CABEurbangreenspacesinventory

Numberofgreenspaceswithin500m. CABEurbangreenspacesinventory

Measureofaccessibilitytogreenspaceforthoseinmostdeprivedareas. Census,IMDandCABEurbangreenspacesinventory

Annualspendonparksperperson. CIPFAandCensus

Reasonsforvisitingparksandopenspaces. GreenSTAT

Amountofareausedforsports/leisure. SportEngland(activeplacesgateway)

Measureofparkuse:frequencyofsummerandwintervisits. GreenSTAT

Measureofaccessibilitytogreenspaceforpeoplefromminorityethnicgroups.

CensusandCABEurbangreenspacesinventory

Measureofaccessibilitytogreenspaceforpeopleaged65andover. CensusandCABEurbangreenspacesinventory

Percentageofpeoplewhothinkthatlocalaccesstonatureandparksandopenspacesmostneedimproving.

BVPI/Place�survey

Thenumberofpeoplewhothinkitisvery,orfairly,importanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive.

BVPI/Place�survey

Measureofusersatisfactionwithparks. GreenSTAT

Greenspace(hectares). GLUD

Greenspacedensitymeasure(bands/quartiles). GLUDandCensus

53

Greenspacediversitymeasure. Various

Ratioofgreenspacetodomesticgardens. GLUD

Number/sizeofallotmentsites. CLG

Communitygardensandcityfarms(number/size). CLG

Millenniumgreensanddoorstepgreens. CLG

Historicsites,gardensandmonuments(number,size). CLG

Numberandareaofparksinlocalauthorityownership(2001). Public�parks�assessment

Changeinareaofparksinlocalauthorityownership. Public�parks�assessment

Land(m2)insports/leisureuseperperson. CLG

Numberandareaofsportspitches/playingfields. FieldsinTrust,SportEngland

Numberofplayareas. MasterMap

Numberofplayareasperthousandchildren. MasterMapandAPSE

PercentageofareaoflanddesignatedasSSSIwhichisfoundtobeinfavourablecondition.

NaturalEngland

Qualityofurbanwildlife:biodiversitymeasure. EnvironmentAgency

Number,areaandpercentageoflocalauthoritycoveredbynaturereserves,SSSIsandothernaturedesignations.

NaturalEnglandandCLG

GreenFlagparks:numberperlocalauthorityarea. CLG

GreenFlagparks:performancecomparedtolocalauthority‘average’. CLG

GreenFlagparks:changeinnumberoverlastxyears. CLG

RegionalGreenFlagnumberspermillionpopulation. CLG

Statusofopenspaceauditsandstrategies. CABESpacedata

Amountoflandcoveredbylocalplandesignationsorpolicies. Landmark

Statusofplaystrategies PlayEngland

54

Appendix 5: Important data sources — and their limitations

Discontinuous data setsBestvalueperformanceindicator(BVPI)informationwasoneofthemostsignificantsourcesofdataforthestudy.BVPIsurveysofresidentswereundertakeneverytwoyearsuntil2006,measuringsatisfactionwithneighbourhoodqualityandlocalauthorityservices.Theaimwastogivegovernment,localauthoritiesandresidentsasnapshotofhowwelleachlocalauthoritywasperforming;enablecomparisonsbetweenauthorities,andmonitorprogressovertime.114From2008theBVPIsurveywasreplacedbythePlace�survey,whichhasasimilarpurposeandisalsoco-ordinatedbythegovernmentdepartmentCommunitiesandLocalGovernment(CLG).115

Unfortunately,Place�surveydatapubliclyavailableatthetimeofthisstudy(2008/09)wasmorelimitedthanitwasforBVPI.Formorein-depthanalysistheresearchthereforereliesondatafromBVPI2006ratherthanonthemoreup-to-date�Place�survey.

Lack of small-area detail DespitetheadvantagesoftheBVPIdata,analysiswaslimitedbyavailabilityofpostcode,orwardcode,datawithinthedataset.Asaresult,therewerearound40urbanauthoritiesforwhichwewereunabletocalculateorreportwardlevelresults.

Anotherusefulsourceofdatawasthegovernment’sSustainableDevelopmentIndicators.116ThesemeasureprogressintheUKtowardssustainabledevelopmentandconsistofasuiteof68nationalindicatorsaroundsustainableconsumptionandproduction;climatechangeandenergy;naturalresourceprotectionandenhancingtheenvironment;andcreatingsustainablecommunitiesandafairerworld.Whiletheseindicatorsareextremelyusefulintermsoftrackingprogressagainstawiderangeofrelevantthemes,thedatacannotbedisaggregatedintosmallgeographicalareaswhichmeansitwasoflimiteduseintermsofourdeeperanalysesofurbanareas.

Datasets that do not cover all urban areasSomeofthedatasetsdidnotprovidecompletecoverageofurbanauthoritiesordidnotcoverallareasinsimilardepth.Forinstance,GreenSTAT,117whichtracksparkusers’views,includesvaluabledatafrommosturbanauthoritiesbutthesamplesizedoesvarybetweenareas.

Localauthorityspendingdataiscollatedannuallyandinformationonheadlinespendonparksand

openspacesisfairlycomprehensive.However,in-depthfinancialdataisincomplete.DatafromtheCharteredInstituteofPublicFinanceandAccountancy(CIPFA)118recordingspendonculture,sportandrecreationisbasedonthenumberofauthoritiesthatchoosetorespondtothissurveyeachyear.Thus,thisdatasourcehadabout40percentofurbanauthoritiesmissingfortheyearanalysed119.

One-off surveysSomeofthekeysourcesusedinthisresearchwereone-offsurveys,forinstancethePublic�parks�assessment,120andtheLocal�authority�green�space�skills�survey.121Wecannotpredictwhetherthesewilleverberepeatedinthesameformatandsoitmayprovedifficulttotracktheirfindingsovertime.

114 Link expired115 Link expired116 Link expired117 GreenSTATisarollingdataset;seewww.greenstat.org.uk.Forthepurposes

ofthisproject,theGreenSTATdatausedheredatesfromlate2008.118 Link expired119 2007/08120 Public�parks�assessment:�a�survey�of�local�authority�owned�parks�focusing�

on�parks�of�historic�interest,UrbanParksForum,2001.121 Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey,CABESpace,Lantra,

GreenSpace,2008.

55

Beautiful�places:�the�role�of�perceived�aesthetic�beauty�in�community�satisfaction,Workingpaperseries:MartinProsperityResearch.PaperpreparedbyFloridaetal.,March2009.

Building�health:�creating�and�enhancing�places�for�healthy�active�lives,NationalHeartForum,inpartnershipwithLivingStreetsandCABE,2007.

Committee�of�Public�Accounts:�Enhancing�urban�green�space:�fifty-eighth�report�of�session�2005/06,HouseofCommons,2006.

Data�fields�of�glory,Hogg,T,the�GiGLer,Issue5(2008),pp6-7

Enhancing�urban�green�space,NationalAuditOffice,2006.

‘Effectofexposuretonaturalenvironmentonhealthinequalities:anobservationalpopulationstudy’,Mitchell,RandPopham,F,The�Lancet,vol.372(2008),pp1655-60.

Food�matters:�a�strategy�for�the�21st�century,TheStrategyUnit,2008.

‘Graffiti,greeneryandobesityinadults:secondaryanalysisonEuropeancross-sectionalsurvey’,Ellawayetal.,British�Medical�Journal�17(2005),p331.

The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.

Green�spaces,�better�places:�final�report�of�the�urban�green�spaces�task�force,DTLR,2002.

Green�space�skills�2009:�National�employers�survey,�CABESpace,2010.

Greenspace�quality:�a�guide�to�assessment,�planning�and�strategic�development,GreenspaceScotland,2008.

Grey�to�green:�how�we�shift�funding�and�skills�to�green�our�cities,CABE,2009.

HLF�funding�for�public�parks�1st�April�1994�–�31st�March�2009,HeritageLotteryFundPolicyandstrategicdevelopmentdepartmentdatabriefing,October2009.

How�much�value�does�the�city�of�Philadelphia�receive�from�its�parks�and�recreation�system?,TrustforPublicLand,2008.Improving�Londoners’�access�to�nature:�London�plan�implementation�report,MayorofLondon,2008.

Inclusion�by�design:�equality,�diversity�and�the�built�environment,CABE,2008.

Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey,CABESpace,Lantra,GreenSpace,2008.

Making�the�invisible�visible:�the�real�value�of�park�assets,CABE,2009www.cabe.org.publications/making-the-invisible-visible

‘Natural�environments�–�healthy�environments?�An�exploratory�analysis�of�the�relationship�between�greenspace�and�health’,deVries,S,Verheij,R,.Groenwagen,PandSpreeuwenberg,P,Environment�and�PlanningA:vol.35(2003),pp1717-31.

The�new�countryside?,Neal,SandAgyeman,J,2006.

Open�space�strategies:�best�practice�guidance,CABESpaceandMayorofLondon,2009.Planning�policy�guidance�17:�planning�for�open�space,�sport�and�recreation,ODPM,2002.

Physical�activity�and�the�natural�environment,NaturalEnglandEvidenceSheet3,2006.

Public�parks�assessment:�a�survey�of�local�authority�owned�parks�focusing�on�parks�of�historic�interest,UrbanParksForum,2001.

State�of�Scotland’s�greenspace,GreenspaceScotland,2009.

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No one knows exactly how many green spaces there are in our urban areas, where they are, who owns them or what condition they are in. A CABE Space research project starts to fill this serious information gap, by compiling and analysing data at a national level. This report presents the main findings of the research. It will be of interest to policymakers and decision makers in central and local government and anyone interested in understanding more about England’s urban green spaces.

CABE1 Kemble StreetLondon WC2B 4ANT 020 7070 6700F 020 7070 6777E enquiries@cabe.org.ukwww.cabe.org.uk

Asapublicbody,CABEencouragespolicymakerstocreateplacesthatworkforpeople.Wehelplocalplannersapplynationaldesignpolicyandadvisedevelopersandarchitects,persuadingthemtoputpeople’sneedsfirst.Weshowpublicsectorclientshowtocommissionprojectsthatmeettheneedsoftheirusers.Andweseektoinspirethepublictodemandmorefromtheirbuildingsandspaces.Advising,influencingandinspiring,weworktocreatewell-designed,welcomingplaces.

CABESpaceisaspecialistunitwithinCABEthataimstobringexcellencetothedesign,managementandmaintenanceofparksandpublicspaceinourtownsandcities.

Publishedin2010bytheCommissionforArchitectureandtheBuiltEnvironment

GraphicdesignbyDraughtAssociates

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,copiedortransmittedwithoutthepriorwrittenconsentofthepublisherexceptthatthematerialmaybephotocopiedfornon-commercialpurposeswithoutpermissionfromthepublisher.Thisdocumentisavailableinalternativeformatsonrequestfromthepublisher.